(Unknown location - 3rd Person POV)
Drifting in a white expanse was a soul who manifested as a blue flame. The flames began to take form, shaping itself into a human. The human slowly opened his crimson eyes and looked ahead at the endless expanse.
"What is this place?", he muttered as he looked at his form. "It feels just like zoning into Spiritual Awareness."
"Kekeli"
The confused soul widened his eyes as two crimson flames emerged from nothingness in the space.
"Huh? Did these flames just… talk?", he slowly reached out to them.
"Sister, I don't think he remembers", the left flame spoke in a smallish voice.
"He will, soon enough", the other responded.
Kekeli raised an eyebrow. "Hmm? So you both ARE talking. I may be new to this space, but it doesn't feel alien to me."
"It's not", the right flame glowed even brighter. "This is a physical manifestation of your awareness and we are your soul core."
An unexplained pressure fell on Kekeli's shoulders as memories painfully streamed into his mind. He clutched his head in pain, though it only lasted for a short moment.
There was a brief silence.
"W- Will he remember now?", the left flame spoke up.
Kekeli kept silent for a bit, "Zoraide…"
Something about him seemed to have changed.
"He did! He remembered!", Zoraide glowed brightly.
The fierce look in Kekeli's eyes killed the excitement however. Zuleika hovered closer.
"Don't expect an explanation", she began. "Your memories answer you well once you're calm enough to analyse them."
The flame warrior closed his eyes, "I know. It's just, why didn't I remember this?"
"The method employed by the Spirit King in the awakening process doesn't go into completion for every soul. We know this much and perhaps a bit more. Since, we are your soul cores in the first place"
"Soul cores? What do you mean?"
A bright light flared behind Kekeli. The air turned warm as he turned around to face a large burning sphere that floated in the space. Three black streams circulated the sphere and hid a bright core in the centre.
"Indeed", Zuleika suddenly interrupted. "It's expected that a soul is entitled to a single core and that core is one that is supposed to hold that soul's life experiences."
"But…", Zoraide continued. "You sprouted from a curse and your life was stolen from you. You were a living carcass."
Kekeli's eyes lost their glow.
Both Zuleika and Zoraide hovered closer to the flame soul and gently burned as they spoke in unison.
"That's why we entrusted ours to you at the point of our deaths.
Our lives became yours at the moment of your death so you could one day have your life given back to you.
This is that time.
Brother… You must reclaim your true soul core."
Kekeli had a feeling that urged him to strongly focus on the large burning sphere that floated at a distance away from him. He now understood what that glowing core in the centre was.
And perhaps, what the dark streams were.
From what he could gather, his sisters entrusted their lives to him so he could have the chance to reclaim his. It may have been a bit unclear to him at the moment, but something more pressing urged him to move forward.
A fierce determination burned within him and his form gave a harsh glow.
"I think I understand", he prepared to move.
Maybe this could finally answer the question that lingered in his mind from time to time.
'What is it… that I want to do?'
Kekeli's soul streaked across the expanse at full speed, bursting towards the sphere. The black streams shimmered in response, twitching in a sickly manner and firing a sea of tentacle-like structures.
The flame warrior weaved through the first wave and kept going strong.
As if agitated at its opponent's simple evasion, more tentacles shot towards Kekeli, quickly overwhelming him. The projectiles slammed into the incoming soul and sent him spiralling to the point he came from.
Parts of his form began to dissipate as he tried to find his footing.
"Damn it", he stood straight. "It burns…"
"If you get hit too many times, you'll lose your soul shell", Zoraide appeared on his right. "And, us too."
"Don't worry about it!", Kekeli grinned. "I'll charge right in at full strength!"
He gave a quirky thumbs up and blasted towards the sphere again. The black streams launched an even larger wave of projectiles at Kekeli.
"Here they come!"
Sharpening his focus, he evaded nearly every one of the black streams' attacks with nearly accurate movements.
However, the streams began to twitch with a sickly groan and the projectiles began to diverge from their one-way movement. It was as if each one of them was given a brain.
"Something's changed", Kekeli muttered to himself and zoomed away from their trajectory.
The projectiles kept their focus on their opponent, swiftly following his movements and catching up to him in the blink of an eye!
Each projectile began to break down in smaller units, resembling leeches. Several leeches glued themselves to Kekeli's back and began to give off malicious vibrations.
"Tch!", the flame soul moved his hand to remove the parasites, but it was too late.
The leeches exploded, sending its victim flying across the expanse. At that point, the majority of Kekeli's form had dissipated, leaving only bits of his limbs and his entire head intact.
"Ahh! Damn this!"
"Calm down", Zuleika appeared to his left. "Charging in blindly is nothing but a fool's gambit. Let the flames consume you and allow yourself to consume the flame. There must be something that draws you in regardless of everything that happens around you."
Kekeli's eyes lit up for a moment. His gaze traced its path from the receding leeches to the core in the centre of the burning sphere.
'Something that draws me in…'
The core within the sphere suddenly began to take form. It was a form that Kekeli immediately recognized. The form of a little girl.
"Leticia?", he muttered.
After the awakening ritual was performed on him at the Spirit Warrior Awakening Ceremony, there was only one memory that came to him; the first time he found himself at the entrance to this realm.
He remembered holding Leticia's hand when he got to the gates. Her identity didn't really seem to matter to him at the point. The only thing he strongly felt was to protect her at all costs. She was the reason why he became a Spirit warrior.
Even after she was taken by a royal family and separated due to her dense spiritual energy, he would endlessly keep his eyes on her.
He wasn't sure why he was doing this, he didn't know who she was, and a disturbing force within him prevented him from ever being away from her side.
A dark void opened up in Kekeli's eyes, "The fact that you're here, must mean you are way more important to me than I realised."
The flame warrior took a step forward and closed his eyes.
"I'll rid myself of this curse", he muttered to himself. "No matter what."
An unexplainable pressure descended upon the space and the three black streams groaned as it hastily shot an immense wave of projectiles at Kekeli.
Zuleika and Zoraide hovered to his side, "This is it. Brother!"
Kekeli's eyes flared to life and took the shape of a raging predator. His form exploded in a magnificent mix of blue and red as the energy from his sisters filled the empty spaces in his form.
Like a bolt of lightning, he shot through the wave of projectiles, blasting them away as he charged at the sphere.
"I…", he stretched his arm. "I just need to reach it!"
The black streams released their grip of the sphere and lunged at Kekeli instead. Their black hue seemed to turn the space into an abyss as they towered above the spirit warrior.
"Jackie! Let's blast away!"
The flame surrounding his form grew exponentially, immediately engulfing the black mass.
*BOOM!!*
An incredibly powerful shockwave shot through the expanse as bits and pieces of the black mass dissipated.
Kekeli kept moving forward until he got to the blinding core. The fierce expression on his face grew soft as he cupped the small sphere in his hands. White light spread out at the point of contact and shrouded everything in a magnificent blindness for a brief moment.
Once Kekeli opened his eyes, the sphere became clear. It was a clear silver and it hovered silently above his chest. Zuleika and Zoraide hovered closer as their flame forms began to shift and distort.
Two feminine flame figures took form; the left one shorter than the one on the right of Kekeli. Their eyes glowed a brilliant gold.
"You did it!", Zoraide enthusiastically hugged her brother from behind.
Zuleika gently did the same, "The curse that was laid in a moment of despair and rage has finally been lifted…"
Kekeli kept his eyes fixed on the floating sphere.
"With this, I might be able to understand you a bit more", he muttered. "And this time, I won't be alone."
Both girls smiled and stretched their arms to touch the soul core.
"Right now, you bear ownership of your true soul core", Zoraide closed her eyes.
"Yes!", Zoraide closed her eyes too.
A bright blue flame pattern formed on the right of the core and a fierce red flame pattern formed on the left.
The space began to fall apart as Kekeli slowly began to disappear.
"We'll be here with you forever", his sisters uttered in sync. "Hearts of three, now as one."
With that, the space fully dissipated, leaving Kekeli's vision in a world of black.
.
.
.
Meanwhile, within the dimly lit hall, Edem and Xoese felt a tingling sensation on the surface of their skins.
"Ho?", Edem's eyes narrowed as his gaze shifted to Kekeli.
Xoese's eyes widened, "Did his Spirit energy just… increase threefold?"
The aura that surrounded Kekeli turned pale red and then dissipated. His black cat rested comfortably on his head and seemed to be finally awake, but it chose to stay on his head.
"Well, it does seem like he'll be taking a while before waking up", Edem turned to face Xoese.
The wind warrior crossed her legs as she sat on the runic stage, "Since it's their first time, they'll most likely take a while before navigating towards their consciousness."
"You really learned a lot from the libraries back at the castle huh!", Edem grinned. "I'm impressed!"
Xoese's expression remained cold.
A brief moment of silence passed and Edem started to hear distorted tunes from within his awareness. His eyes grew sharp and shifted in the direction of the entrance.
The white-haired girl stood up and took a few steps forward.
"Wonderful", Edem smirked.
Sounds of footsteps could be heard as two silhouettes emerged from the shadows and into the dim light.
They were both souls
'Hmm?', a thought crossed Edem's mind. 'These two…'
One of them was clad entirely in blue armour and the other was a bit shorter, donned in a Spirit Warrior uniform with the symbol of a mountain on its left shoulder. The uniform was a two-piece set and exposed the soldier's delicate belly.
'A spirit warrior girl and someone clad entirely in armour', Xoese thought. 'I've never heard of these two. More importantly, how did they find this exact location? It's completely masked by turbulent residual spirit energy.'
The girl donned a fox mask with black patterns that matched her uniform. She reached for an opening in her trousers and secretly pulled out a tiny ball.
Edem's eyes turned to Xoese as he muttered, "Xoese-"
"It's clear that there are simply no verbal exchanges to be made here", her eyes gleamed with killing intent.
"Perfect", a slightly crazed grin formed on Edem's lips.