"It's you."
Those words struck like a blow, echoing in my mind. 'Me? What do you mean, me?' I thought, as the weight of the declaration hung in the air, suffocating and incomprehensible. It was hard to accept that the voice—this presence that felt so foreign and yet so intimately familiar—could truly be a part of me.
Leopold leaned forward slightly, his piercing gaze locked on mine. "You're starting to feel it," he continued, his voice calmer now but still heavy with a gravity that made me hold my breath. "What you heard, what you felt—it's all the echo of your own essence. A part of you—or rather, a part of your new self—is beginning to awaken. It's natural for your mind to resist this at first."
My hands trembled on the table, my fingers unsteady as I tried to absorb his words. "My… new self?" I murmured, my voice fragile.
"Yes," Leopold confirmed with a slight nod, maintaining his composure as his eyes bore into mine. "The fusion of your soul and your… new soul."
I couldn't hold back the outburst that followed. "But that doesn't make any sense!" I protested, my voice rising, louder and firmer than I intended. "You implied the soul wouldn't be affected, that it was just a bond. How can there be a—new soul—if there was already one?"
Leopold remained unshaken, a faint smile gracing his lips—. "I said your soul wouldn't be affected, and that includes both parts: the new and the old. It's a fusion, Dalton. Not a replacement."
My mind was spinning, struggling to find logic in his explanation. "But how is that possible?" I demanded, my voice a mixture of disbelief and frustration. "Isn't it supposed to be one soul per body? Doesn't this violate…I don't know…the very logic of existence?"
"And it is one soul," Leopold replied patiently, resting his chin on one hand, like someone explaining a simple concept to an impatient child. "But imagine your soul now as a blend. A new compound. Your old self, and your new self." He paused.
"Then wouldn't it be normal to say I had only one soul as well?"
I sat there, stunned, trying to process Leopold's words, trying to grasp the complexity of what he was saying. Finally, the question that had been hammering at the back of my mind escaped. "So, what is a soul, then? In the end… just a collection of memories is enough to create one, isn't it?"
Leopold answered with a disarming frankness, as if shedding any pretense. "I don't know," he said, the sincerity in his voice catching me off guard. "Some say a soul is just memory, the sum of lived experiences. Others claim it's the essence of who we are, the spark that defines us. And then, there are those who argue it doesn't exist at all."
He paused, as if weighing the gravity of his words. "The only thing I can state with certainty is that now, you have two. Two elements that, when joined, create something unique—but still you."
"So… I'm a fusion?" The disbelief in my voice was palpable, as though the words themselves defied comprehension.
"Yes," he said calmly, tilting his head slightly as he studied me. "You are the result of two essences combined. Your old soul carries everything you were, while the new one adds potential, affinities, and… complexity. That doesn't mean you've ceased to be who you were. It only means you now have more layers."
I fell silent, struggling to decipher the chaos swirling in my mind. "A fusion? Me, but not me…" The thought was unsettling, like something prying into the deepest corners of my existence.
"Wrong. You are you," Leopold said, cutting through my murmurs with firm finality. "Simplify. What is your name?"
I ignored him, still caught in the whirlwind of confusion echoing within me.
"And this fusion… is it permanent?" I asked, my voice low, as if afraid of the answer.
"Yes," Leopold replied, his tone softer now, yet carrying a new weight.
I remained motionless as silence reclaimed the room, broken only by the distant hum of the runes on the floor. His answer, though straightforward, pressed heavily on me.
'An expansion… not a loss'. That's what he was saying. And maybe it was what I needed to believe. Maybe.
"I asked you something," Leopold insisted, his solemn gaze fixed on me. "What is your name, boy?"
The question wasn't difficult. It was a simple question, something anyone could answer instinctively. Yet, in that moment, it became a challenge. The query reverberated in my mind.
And then, the sharp pain struck again.
'What is my name?' The question that should have been obvious now felt like an impossible riddle. It made no sense. Leopold had just said my name.
'My name is Dal…'
'My name is Al…'
The two voices echoed simultaneously in my mind, like hammers striking in unison, colliding and competing for space. One was an anchor—heavy, familiar, tethering me to who I had been. The other, strange but no less real, pulsed with an intense force, wild and uncontrollable, like a raging river desperate to break free of its banks.
"GET OUT OF MY HEAD, NOW!" I shouted, my voice reverberating through the chamber. But instead of subsiding, the pain surged.
Images began to form in my mind, so vivid that I couldn't tell if they were memories or hallucinations. A family. A smiling face as I was cradled in their arms. Steady hands holding me as I took my first steps. Encouraging voices guiding me as I learned to speak, to read, to write. Laughter and playful shouts with other children my age. The warmth of the sun on my face in a field of blooming flowers.
These were so different from the torrent of memories that had flooded me before. If those had felt like a cold encyclopedia being injected into my mind, these were visceral. They came with sensations, emotions, moments I could almost reach out and touch, relive.
My breathing was ragged, sweat dripping down my face. My knees buckled, and I collapsed from the chair onto the cold stone floor, clutching my head. "What is this?" I gasped, but the answer was already clear, buried beneath the confusion and the agony.
'They're your…'
My thought was cut off abruptly by another voice, a raspy, childlike tone.
'Our…'
Another interruption, stronger now. Until finally, both voices spoke in unison.
'They're my memories.'
I finally understood. These weren't just memories from my past—they belonged to the new soul. Yet instead of offering clarity, they brought more questions than answers.
My body trembled as my mind struggled to realign itself. I raised my gaze to Leopold, and my expression was a chaotic blend of fury and confusion. My eyes burned, reflecting the storm of pain raging within me. "What did you do to me?!"
I demanded, my voice hoarse yet brimming with emotion. "WHO AM I?!"
Leopold watched me with a disturbing calm, his hands wrapped around a wine glass. He took another measured sip before speaking.
"You are who you have always been," he said, his voice soft but firm. "And who you are becoming now."
"That explains nothing!" I shouted, my voice trembling with frustration, each word an ineffective attempt to combat the mental storm brewing within me. My body was tense, my head pounding with an unbearable pain.
"You're simply afraid of the truth, denying something you've already accepted long ago," Leopold replied, his words steeped in a calm that only fueled my anger. He looked at me with that unwavering expression, as if he understood something I wasn't yet capable of grasping.
"What is your name!" he exclaimed, his voice now deeper, more commanding. The pressure in my head surged, the pain detonating like an endless storm within me. What did he want from me? What more could I do to make sense of this?
"I am... I am... I am Dalton Xavier!" I finally shouted. The answer was there. I didn't know where the certainty came from, but I knew who I was. Or at least, that's what I thought.
But Leopold's reaction was immediate and intense. His face hardened, his eyes darkened. He leaned forward, his expression alight with anger.
The pain in my head felt infinite, as if my mind was tearing itself apart—a whirlwind of conflicting emotions and thoughts clashing violently within me.
"NO, NOT THAT ONE! WHAT IS YOUR NAME?!" Leopold's voice sliced through the air, furious, like a blade. I looked at him, but his image blurred before me. His rage was immense, and somehow, it echoed within me.
"DAL." I tried to shout, my voice raw and desperate. But Leopold didn't let me finish. His anger was tangible, suffocating, and he cut me off without hesitation.
"BE QUIET. WHAT IS YOUR NAME? ANSWER ME!" he roared with such intensity that the sound seemed to reverberate through my very bones.
The pain in my head rose like a tidal wave, swelling and growing until it was unbearable. My fingers twisted, my breathing grew shallow and erratic. I tried, with every ounce of strength I had, to fight back, but the mental chaos refused to relent. The voices, the images—they all merged into an incomprehensible torrent.
I was drowning.
"What… is… my… name?" The question kept hammering in my head, an ever-growing obsession that made me question every part of myself. I just wanted the pain to stop, for the agony to end. Everything felt like a blur.
"ANSWER ME! DON'T BE A STUPID CHILD! DON'T BE A BOY RUNNING FROM THE TRUTH!" Leopold's voice echoed, cruel and merciless.
"Accept who you are now, who you were, and who you will be. I'm not asking you to abandon who you were—I'm asking you to understand who you are now." His words struck something deep within me, and suddenly, something inside me stilled.
The two voices, once clashing for control, had finally merged. The grafting process had completed. The pain began to subside, though my mind remained disoriented, disarrayed. I no longer knew where truth began or illusion ended, but somehow, the pressure eased. I wasn't fully in control, but I wasn't lost anymore. I felt… altered, transformed.
And then, amidst the turmoil, someone appeared before me. A woman with a radiant smile, her eyes gleaming with pure, comforting energy. She approached slowly, as if emerging from the depths of my soul, a soothing presence in the midst of the chaos.
Her voice was clear and reassuring, as if she were the only real thing in this moment of confusion. And then, she spoke to me softly, giving me the answer.
"My name is…"