The Soul Keeper

I honestly couldn't find the words. He sounded so much like my uncle. I knew he was an Ereth, I could hear the slightly deeper tone the Ereth had, yet all I could hear was my uncle.

His somewhat neutral expression hardened. "Hey!" He clapped once to get my attention. 

I flinched. The memories I relived before this person saved me were affecting me.

"Who are you?" I asked, snapping back to the present. "Where am I?"

His expression softened somewhat. "You're deep inside demon territory. This is a safe place though; they won't come here."

His words did little to satisfy my curiosity, and even less to make me feel safe. It was probably obvious from my expression because he chuckled and shook his head. "Don't worry about that now. Your body hasn't healed yet – not even close, actually. You need to keep resting." As he spoke, his expression darkened. His gaze focused on my chest.

"How am I alive? Who are you?" I suddenly felt trapped. I knew nothing about this guy. Who was he? Was he another Divine? Or some normal Ereth who could somehow magically bring people back from the dead?

"I'll explain how you survived later when you are calmer and when we have more time. As for my name, it's Fetheion." His voice, despite being perfectly calm and kind, was also commanding. I hesitated. Just resting felt so wrong, as if I were wasting precious time.

"What happened to everyone else?" I asked despite his glare. "What happened to my friends?"

His expression darkened a bit. "The two who betrayed you returned to the others. I didn't stay and listen, but from the others' expression, I recon they spun a story about your death."

I clenched my fists. Anger welled up inside me. How dare they!

"Calm down." Fetheion's words didn't do much. "For now, rest." He motioned to leave.

"Wait!" I shouted, snapping out of my anger. "Why did you save me? What do you want from me?"

He chuckled. "I'll tell you all about it tomorrow. It's the middle of the night, so go to sleep." With those words, he stepped out of the room. I ran after him, but by the time I'd reached the door, he had already locked it and left.

"Damn it!" I shouted, raising my clenched fist to punch the door. It hung in the air for a moment before I let it drop back down. It wouldn't make a difference.

Angered at my own weakness, I climbed back onto the bed and pulled the blanket over my head. Soon I drifted into a restless sleep filled with dreams of Uncle Eion. 

I woke up with the sound of a key turning in its lock. Startled, I quickly jumped off the bed as Fetheion opened the door. 

"I do hope you actually slept." He said with a chuckle as he noticed me. "It would be rather pointless if you stayed up all night."

His… almost friendly attitude was so weird; it was making me feel more anxious than I probably should be. No, on second thought, I should probably be even more wary of this mysterious person.

"No, I rested." What else could I say?

"Good," He said as he placed a small bundle of clothes on the bed. "Get dressed, then come. I'll be waiting." He stepped outside and shut the door. 

Confused about this whole ordeal, I decided to go along with him for now. Besides, changing into something that wasn't a simple robe was a good idea anyways.

The clothes he gave me weren't anything fancy. Honestly, they were the most… normal clothes I'd seen since we had ended up in this game. I quickly put on the dark grey pants and shirt. There was also a cloak, which I also put on. 

The normality of this was weirdly refreshing. I had missed wearing clothes that didn't have a bunch of unnecessary cloth hanging from everywhere. Once I was done, I stepped outside.

"I'm glad they fit you." He said with a chuckle. "Come," He led me through a set of narrow hallways. We didn't walk for long; this place was clearly rather small and probably underground. 

We soon reached a medium sized room. The walls were lined with shelves. I could see a whole lot of rolled up parchments and even a few books, though most of them seemed rather old. 

"Have a seat," He said, gesturing towards one of the couches in the room. I hesitated for a moment, but with how exhausted I was, I didn't really have much of a choice. 

After we both were seated, he took a deep breath. "First of all, I want you to know one thing." It was clear that he was choosing his words carefully. "I'm not your enemy."

I kind of wanted to laugh. That was… a weird way to start a conversation, not to mention cliché too. 

"By that, I mean that I have to ill intentions against you. But…" He hesitated. "I am somewhat responsible for the position you've found yourself in."

My ears perked up as my I felt my body grow tense. What did that mean?

"Your predecessor, the Keeper of the past… He died many years ago. His body was taken away to be destroyed, since the other Divines feared him so much." He fiddled with the end of his long braid. "I took the body away, before they could destroy it and hid it away. I hoped that… one day I could somehow bring my friend back."

His friend? "What do you mean?" I asked after a moment of silence. Weren't the Ereth and demons enemies? Wasn't the Keeper on the demons' side? Despite everything I'd learned so far, it still wasn't quite clear what had happened all those years ago.

"Your predecessor and I met more than a few times. I never supported Aelith's and the others' actions, and he wanted to protect this word from her. We worked together, I helped him in secret, and he informed the demons of Aelith's plans through. We somehow became friends along the way. I was hoping you'd have his memories, but I guess not."

I shook my head. "No. I saw some moments of his life through the memories of others." I glanced at my clenched fists and slowly relaxed those muscles. "How did you bring me back? I was sure I was dead." 

An almost mischievous smile appeared on his lips. "Well, when I heard Aelith was planning to summon souls to this world, I snuck his- no, your body there, so a compatible soul would bring life back to it." He did seem somewhat conflicted as he continued to speak. "Honestly, I was just hoping his soul would return and kick yours out. You'd go back to your world and he'd be alive again. I knew the chances were very slim, but it was the only thing I could think of."

I had no words, in fact, I was having trouble wrapping my head around all this. 

"Anyways, I'm sorry." He sighed. "I deviated from the subject. You're alive because the Keeper of Souls must always exist. As long as there's a soul in the body, he can always be brought back. I made it just before your soul disappeared, after that it was a matter of healing the body."

I instinctively touched my heart, right where Alina had thrust that sword into. "I see," I mumbled. "How did you know I was dying?"

"I couldn't leave too many tracks, but I did cast a hidden tracking spell on you before you, uh… took over that body. I was ready to come and help at any time, you just didn't need it so far." He chuckled. "You've been doing better than I expected, though you've got a long way to go still."

I rolled my eyes, then sighed. "So, what do you want from me? And why can't I use any of my powers?"

His expression darkened. "I locked your powers – not because of ill will though!" He tried to explain as soon as he noticed the hostility in my expression. "Using your powers takes a toll on your body. You're still in critical condition, I was simply trying to avoid any accidents." He glanced at the ground. "And, well, this place is wooden. I don't really want to see it burn to ash."

I really couldn't blame him. I did have a tendency to burn things after all. "Fine, then unlock them"

"I think I'll wait a while." His tone didn't really have any of that kindness he'd shown until now. "Since I don't really know who you are." He made a vague gesture towards me. "Since you're not my old friend, who are you? Tell me your name."

Only then did I notice how he'd never uttered my name, and how I'd never introduced myself.

"Kai," I said with a sigh. "Kai Friseal."

He flinched, visibly. I noticed his clenched fists as for just a moment, his expression showed shock. He was quick to hide it however, though it did leave a bad taste in my mouth. Why had he reacted like that?

"I see." He said, his voice somewhat odd. "Feel free to check the books or look around the place, there's a bathroom on the second door to the left," He gestured towards the hallway we came through moments before. "I'll be back shortly."

"Wait, what? No, hang on-" I started to protest, but he disappeared in a flash of light, leaving me alone in this weird, dark library.

What the hell had just happened?