As Skylar was done playing with the slime, she glanced over Rudolf, who had been having a hard time breaking the chains around him. He was grunting, panting, clicking his tongue, and cussing over and over again. He was growing frustrated, and Skylar found it funny. But her smile softened upon seeing Sophia's soul watch Rudolf's struggle over something simple, which would have broken any inhumane person. But Rudolf hasn't had that strength anymore, and Skylar noticed it.
"It's time." She whispered and began stretching both of her hands before channeling the energies in the cell. "Let's get you home."
Skylar performs hand gestures, causing the air to shift and energies to begin flowing, gathering in one direction. They were all coming to the center, creating a container. Then, with a clap, the container was complete, but to make it unbreakable, she gathered all dark slimes in the cell before draping it around the crystalized orb, and letting all the cursed blood scattered in the cell come as well. She even added a few drops of hot water from the tank, making the container much clearer and transparent.
However, she wasn't done yet.
Skylar made another hand gesture, gathering some remaining particles - the dust in the air before swirling around the crystalized orb in serene orbit. She kept the pace with her hands until the particles turned into chains, connecting in orbit before it clicked.
"Rudolf, can I ask you something?" Skylar asked calmly, but was curious about something he was hiding.
"What?" Rudolf spat, grunting as he kept trying to break the chains around the chain, but nothing - not even a crack.
"Do you remember your house? What is it like, from its structure to the vibe when you were there?" She wondered curiously, but her eyes flicker deeply within his soul's memories. "Tell me, so I can lead you home."
"Why do you want to know?" He asked, grunting over the chains, but still nothing.
"Nothing, I'm just curious why Aunt Sophia wants you home." She replied, shrugging her shoulders and walking around the cell, uncovering the steel table filled with rusty torture devices.
Rudolf paused. He remembered Sophia's soft smile and sweet giggles when he did something funny to her sight. And Skylar glanced at him, noticing the sudden silence on his side before smirking - she knew what he was thinking in that split second.
"She wanted me home?" he whispered, barely, almost slipped from Skylar's sensitive hearing.
"Yes." She answered, studying his energy flow where a fragment slipped, and went to the orb she just created, floating at the center.
"That can't be true..." He said softly, not believing her words, and accused her of lying to his face. "You're lying..."
"What's the point of lying to you when she's the one who's waiting for your return?" She responded coldly before asking him the same question, but more directly and clearly. "So tell me, do you remember what it was like being in your house between with and without Aunt Sophia?"
"What are you getting at?" He asked, narrowing his eyes and stopping a little from breaking the chains before asking with venom, "Are you buying some time so you could win in your pathetic game?"
"Hey, don't call it pathetic when you agreed with it." She chuckled slightly, defending her game before turning serious, answering him, "And I'm not getting something, I'm just curious."
"Curious about what?" He asked, glaring at her, making Skylar sigh.
"Why is she waiting despite what you did to her? Why does she want you back home? I just wanted to know that's all." She admitted but hid the truth; she wanted to hear them because it was working. Whenever they talked about Sophia based on Rudolf's memories, the orb was absorbing his soul without being noticed.
There was silence in the air. Rudolf stared cautiously at Skylar, who was just busy, checking the torture devices that were once used against her.
"Speak and tell me about it before my vampiric side takes over and uses all of this torturing device against you." She said calmly, but leaving a warning, making him scoff.
"Then you better let -" He was about to respond, thinking of letting Skylar's vampire side kill him instead, but Skylar quickly cut him off.
"Don't finish it, Rudolf. My vampire side isn't like me when it comes to its captive prey. I could be reasonable, but she, she's the infamous Rose Slayer in the city, which I bet you already heard about." She interjected firmly, sharing her truth about her vampire side. Rudolf was shocked hearing the infamous killer's name before hearing her next words, "She loves torturing her prey and revealing their darkest secrets in public, and I hope we won't go there, are we?"
There was malice in Skylar's warning, making Rudolf shiver slightly. It made him think about it carefully, forgetting the chain and the timer for a little while before sighing heavily. He looked at her - really looked at Skylar before his tears fell from his eyes.
"Fine. I'll tell you what my life in our house, but free me." He tried to bargain, but Skylar chuckled.
"I'm not stupid, Rudolf." She smirked darkly before adding, "That chain will stay as you tell me the truth, or else, it won't come off."
Rudolf stared at her for a few seconds before sighing, shaking his head.
"You're like your mother. Clever and wary of anyone's intention." He praised, smirking slightly before starting his tale, "Fine, my life has been in a loop after my first heartache. And yes, Sophia isn't my first. She's my second chance, that's why it's really painful to see her like that."
"See her like that?" She repeated confusedly.
"Wounded and dying." He answered with a sad smile before continuing with heartache in his tone, "I may be a doctor, but dealing with your mate who's losing life is the most painful thing to face. You have to swallow your care, connection, and love whenever you tend their wounds. You have to be a doctor and not their lover. And I had to do it again to save her life. I had been doing that - trying to be normal around her, not letting her see or even notice that I'm already drowning whenever she got hurt."
"You're stupid for a doctor." She commented, sighing at his stupidity, and Rudolf shrugged his shoulders.
"Maybe, but if you're a healer, you will understand where I was coming from." He said, smiling sadly before continuing, "My actions turned cold and less affectionate, and it was not just about my job but my jealousy over her bond with your mother, being friendly with your father, and my worry of her dying like how I lost my first mate."
"How did your first mate die? Is it the same as hers?" She asked quickly, and Rudolf chucked at her curiosity.
"In some parts, they were the same but had different reasons. My first mate died protecting me from herself, while Sophia killed herself to curse me." He answered briefly but directly.
"Does she know this?" She asked, but he shook his head, sighing.
"No, I couldn't tell her about my first mate." He answered sadly.
"Why? Did you chicken out?" She wondered, frowning.
"No, it's not about being afraid of her leaving me. It's about being afraid of how she'll look at me if she learned that my first mate was her relative - her aunt - her mother's sister." He answered, sharing what he could not easily share with Sophia before.
"Whoa, I didn't see that coming." She reacted, gasping from hearing his truth before changing the topic back to her question earlier. "But how's your home then?"
"Typical marriage life. There were sweet moments, fun, misunderstandings, and arguments, but we always came home and still chose to be with each other until she got severely injured." He answered and started trembling on the chair, but he kept proceeding, "My calm and peaceful marriage with her triggered everything that I had been suppressing, and that saddest part, even I want to seek her embrace and understanding, my pride in managing it on my own pushed her further. I had been struggling inside, drowning until she lost it and gave it up by cursing me. I knew it was my fault, and I took it, carried her curse as my punishment."
Skylar felt his truth while watching his soul's fragments gathering to the orb. She liked how it was turning until he coughed, making her soften a little.
"And now?" She wondered carefully. Rudolf looked at her like it were a very difficult question to answer.
"Now, I'm tired." He answered carefully, shaking, afraid to admit his feelings.
"Then why are you looking for her remains? Are you making ghouls?" She wondered, narrowing her eyes just to make sure Sophia's remains won't be used like that.
"I created some for those bastards to use and caused trouble, and maybe help me find her remains. Sadly, they didn't until I learned about you're connection with Fredric and your resemblance to your mother. I stalked both of you and learned something about what she did to you. Honestly, I even planned on taking you with me, but seeing how Fredric and your husband guarded you, I changed my plan, which led us here." He answered, clearing the false accusation.
"Then why are you looking for her body?" She asked again.
"To be buried together in our mausoleum. She and your mother built it when we decided to rest. I want to sleep with her. I..." He answered truthfully, making the orb glow brighter and weakening him more. He even coughed more blood before asking, "What's happening to me?"
"You running out of time in our game, that's why?" She answered calmly, but it agitated him.
"YOU TRICK ME!" He snapped, shouting at her, but Skylar sighed.
"No, I didn't because when the timer is out, I'll be taking you home...to her." She corrected him, clearing her intention, catching him off guard.
"What?" he asked softly, breaking even more.
"I mean it, Rudolf. I'm taking your soul home - to her." She answered firmly, and she walked closer to his spot.
Rudolf's eyes squinted, and for a moment of silence and Skylar's assuring smile, it finally sank in. Excitement quickly filled Rudolf's tearful eyes.
"THEN PLEASE, TAKE ME TO HER! TAKE ME HOME. TO HER!" He shouted, pleading in a hurry.
"Don't be so demanding. I will just...rest." She said, giggling slightly, before patting his shoulder because in a few moments, the orb will be completed. Then she gave her assurance one more time, "When you wake up, you're with her."
"I...I'll take your words on that..." He said softly, weakening before thanking her, "Thank you."
"Don't thank me yet until you're with her." She said, smiling, and Rudolf was getting drowsy.
"Still, thank you, and please..." He thanked her softly again before adding an apology, "...tell your parents that I'm sorry for everything."
"I will." She murmured, smiling in relief because Rudolf was her first task to accomplish as a Souls' Mutualist.
Rudolf was out, but the remaining fragment of his soul was finally filling the orb that was prepared for him. When it was filled, Skylar made a lock, sealing his soul completely, and his soulless body started decaying until it became ash.
"I didn't expect that to happen," Skylar commented as Rudolf's body became ash.
'He died a long time ago.'
"Sophia." She muttered as Sophia's soul touched Rudolf's orb.
'Well done on bringing him back.'
"He's not back yet. Not until I bring him back to you." She corrected her, making Sophia frown, confused.
'He's here now.'
"No, Sophia. I mean, technically yes, but this is not your home." She corrected, clearing it more, "I have to take you both back home."
'You mean?'
"Yes, I'm taking you both back to your house, to the mausoleum at your house." She said, smiling as she opened her palm, making the orb land on it before vanishing.
'Oh my...I almost forgot that...thank you, my child.'
"See you whenever they let you return to the surface again." She said assuringly, but Sophia's soul stayed, catching her attention again.
'Just in case I'll be reborn, can I be your daughter?'
"Sure. I don't mind it." She grinned, liking the idea of having her as her daughter.