Eren stumbled, like a drunk trying to adjust his balance he teetered about before standing straight. Befuddled, he looked around and saw a familiar bedroom. It's like he never left this very spot yet the trip to the capital still echoes in his mind with vivid detail as though he was the one that went and not Ariellia. He tried to clench his hands only to hear the crunching of paper. Glancing down, he saw the lone sheet of paper given by the strange oracle in the memory.
"What just happened?"
"You asked so I gave you the spell. It's the only way I know to recall and manifest it here in this dream."
'Woah, an explanation of the spell would have worked as well but alright. Nothing beats memory lane.' Eren lightly makes jest in his mind, much too cowardly to say it aloud.
Equipped with a proper understanding of events, he looks down at the paper in his hand and carefully examines it. Perhaps his eyes are still playing tricks on him, did he just see the letters move? Blinking twice, he held the piece of paper inches from his face just to be sure. No, he was not hallucinating the letters in ancient elvish really did move. Instead of [The soulmate calling spell] the title changed to [The soul calling spell]. The difference of that single word felt enormous, like the disparity between night and day.
"What did you say the spell was called again?" he slowly asked, dumbfounded and hoping against all hope that his hunch is wrong.
"The soulmate calling spell, why do you ask? Are you illiterate or what!"
'No, my dear lady, it appears the illiterate one between the two of us is you.'
It all makes sense now, with Ariellia's low intelligence stats at level 1 there's no way she would be able to decipher such an ancient spell. In fact, in light of this realization, a temporary sealing of her soul within her own body while he took possession was the best possible outcome. Due to her low comprehension level, she could have outright banished her own soul into oblivion or called in some great evil to possess her body. Eren couldn't help but stare at the oblivious brazen heiress in abject horror.
'They say youth makes one reckless but there must be a limit! Don't go performing spells some random oracle gives you without proper knowledge.'
"Why are you looking at me like that?" Even the arrogant princess became uncertain the longer he stared back at her.
Not even knowing where to begin, Eren runs his hand through his rough shoulder length hair in a nervous manner. "Listen, I don't know what you were thinking trying this without even properly studying magic, but this is not a soulmate calling spell. It says it's a soul calling spell, that charlatan deceived you!"
"Impossible! I've had that paper for four years. I read it several times to memorize the spell." She vehemently denies the obvious truth.
"Yes, but you should know everything related to magic requires a high comprehension level to truly gain an understanding. Even a foreign soul like me knows this. Why did you recklessly perform the spell, what was so pressing that you couldn't wait?"
"Anya, that two-faced tramp keeps deceiving Rei!" the venom in her voice is very telling.
Eren frowned, "what do you mean? Anya is Rei's friend. She's a nice girl. I get you don't like her but that's just..."
Arie lowers her head to her chest, casting a shadow over her eyes to hide her distorted expression from him but it's of no use. He can see how tormented she is by how tightly she's hugging the teddy bear, practically choking the stuffing out of it.
"Anyone else can say that...hic…but not you…y-you…hic…don't get the right to judge me…" hearing the tears in her voice Eren's tough heart softens up. It's true, from the perspective of players Arie is just an annoying clingy brat that hinders the hero's journey at first. It actually feels a bit revolting how easily players like him cheered for the death of this immature young girl, having lived as her for several days he knows how dearly she is loved. Her arrogance shouldn't warrant her being pulled apart and devoured by monsters. He couldn't imagine how heart broken duke David must have been upon coming home to such a sight.
Lowering his voice, he decided to be her lone champion, to try to see things from her perspective. "Why do you feel she's deceiving Rei?"
"She's not telling him everything, she only shows him the parts that make her look good. She's not the same when he's not there."
'Well that's a given, no one wants their crush to see the ugly side of them.' Eren finds her reason to be lacking but after recalling the recent betrayal of his ex-fiancée before his own death he realized she might have a point. Could it be that there's something more to Anya's story?
"Okay, I'll watch her very closely. I won't be deceived like others." He gives her his word.
"Of course, she won't keep up the act in front of you. You're in my body remember." she gives him a smile full of sarcasm, her doll like amethyst eyes hinting at some untold misfortune to come.
"Right…so why now, what made you use the spell?"
"You forget this is not like your world. Elves are a long-lived race but we're not as fertile as others. Marriage and giving birth to the next generation are of great importance. I am of age to debut, once I appear in high society at the capital there will be many asking for my hand for several reasons. My father will try to respect my choice, but in the end, I am still the daughter of a duke.
I have a responsibility to my people to pick a proper suitor and not incur the wrath of scorned suitors that might put my father at a disadvantage. Rei is the same, he may be an orphan, but everyone can tell there's something different about him. He isn't destined to remain in this little dutchy forever. The world tree told me, if I didn't act soon, I would lose him." She muttered, her voice growing softer with creeping dread for an uncertain future.
'Woah, she's a lot more mature than people give her credit.' This was unexpected. Her mature response left him at a loss. It's a vastly different side to her than her usual impulsive self. Eren felt almost compelled to try to lift some of the weight off her dainty shoulders.
"The oracle didn't lie. Rei is being deceived. He cannot be with another, or his fate will be sealed." She adamantly repeats her prior statement.
"Why did it have to be me though, where I come from there are millions of souls?"
He's startled when the little girl he'd just been speaking to on the bed appeared before him, fully grown in her true form. He unconsciously inched back as she lightly pressed her palm over his heart.
"Because you are my other half…my half soul."
His eyes grew wide as he felt his body become weightless, forced back by her gentle touch. He watched as the distance grew, helplessly trying to fight against the invisible force propelling him back. Her lonely silhouette becoming faint as the thick door began to close once more.
"Wait! Don't just leave it like this! Explain! What do you mean?" He can only scream.
"Time is up…don't forget, beware of that faker Anya."