There was a moment of silence. Then,
'Here. Drink this,' said the white-haired man.
Arin straightened to see him offering him a familiar cup of tea.
'What, to help calm me down?' he chuckled. He leaned forward to take the offered cup anyway. 'You needn't worry. I was already fine when I woke up just now. I'm capable of facing reality.'
Arin threw his head back and drained the cup. That done, he set it onto the desk. He then looked up at the white-haired man in a comfortable sort of silence.
'Hmm...' the man before him regarded him for a moment. Then he smiled, and simply said, 'Good.'
'As for the question you last posed, no. No, people cannot simply be brought back to life all the time. We've already touched upon the rare kinds of taboo talents - those that enable soul-capturing and transfers. Even in those cases, Arin, it will not work if the person in question is dead.'
'Once a person fully, truly dies - not an artificial death, or an early one induced under the supervision and control of such a magician - but a true death, their soul disappears.'
The white-haired man delicately tucked a long strand of hair behind his ear. 'Never once, has anyone in all of the recorded history of our lands, been capable of tracing such a lost soul.' A small smile played upon his lips, as though in acknowledgement of some joke only he knew. 'And not for lack of trying, of course,' he added after a moment.
'So, Arin; Elara, the host of the distortion, was gone the moment she was killed. The people who were killed by the distortion prior to you destroying it, are also long gone. Even you couldn't see any lingering souls of any kind, despite your own situation last night.' It was a statement, not a question.
Even so, Arin shook his head in a wordless affirmation of the man's words.
'Mm-hmm. She wasn't there... but… you were, Arin.' The man's pale red irises sparkled as he spoke. 'Even though you, too, had died what might be considered a natural death - courtesy of the distortion - while within Rin's body. Fascinating, wouldn't you say?'
Arin furrowed his brows at that. 'Yeah, I don't really get that part,' he mumbled. 'If - if death makes souls disappear, why didn't I? I stuck around. I made myself corporeal. And of course, there's the last bit that you took care of; I came back to life. How come?'
The white-haired man smiled pleasantly as he leaned back in his chair.
'I do not know.'
Arin raised a brow. He then slumped back in his chair. 'Of course you don't,' he rolled his eyes.
'I don't, but I do have my guesses.' The man shrugged lightly.
'…Of course you do.'
'To put it as simply as I can, this is further proof of an external, powerful force being the cause of yours and Rin's situation. If your soul was indeed purposefully drawn here, with the objective of having you take possession of this body, the remnants of whatever magic was used kept you here and prevented your soul from being immediately erased.'
Arin bit his lip. 'So…'
The white-haired man sighed softly. 'So, the last remaining traces of whatever brought you here, kept you here.'
'Ah, right. Exactly what I'd thought you'd said. Got it.'
The man sighed again. 'You should keep in mind that the residual magic is most likely gone now. Such a thing will not occur again.'
'Mm-hmm. If I die again, I'm dead for good. Got it,' Arin nodded. He didn't mind that. It's not like he was planning on making a habit of exiting his body for fun.
It was a bit of a pity he didn't have three extra lives, like in some of his video games. Ultimately, though, it didn't really matter. Right now, sitting in this room, he was feeling more relaxed than he'd done in a long, long time.
'But then, you'd said you were busy, yeah?' he suddenly remembered. 'And yet, you still came out all this way, just to fix me up? How did you even do that? Stitched us together, like Wendy and the shadow?' he laughed.
'Wendy and…' The tower master tilted his head a little. 'Never mind. You were restored by drawing upon the magic of a tool - a rare, powerful one among the many I've collected over the years.'
'A tool, huh?' Arin scratched his chin, feeling the rough stubble under his fingertips.
This Rin guy could probably grow a beard twice, no, thrice as fast as the real him!
'These tool-things are pretty interesting. The bracelet you gave me, for example. I wasn't expecting its illusions to be fully tangible, and so long-lasting, even outside of the dream! The dragon I created carried us for hours! Hours! Who even needs talent when you have tools like that!'
The man leaned against the desk, resting his cheek on one hand as he looked at Arin. He then sighed again. 'The vast majority of people may not even see such a tool for the entirety of their lives, Arin.'
'Besides, I have already warned you of how limited such things are. I don't doubt the possibility that your dragon had dissipated, even before the distortion had struck. Maybe you plunged and fell to unconsciousness first, before the distortion finally reawakened.'
'Huh?' Arin frowned and rubbed the back of his head. 'You'd think I'd remember… plunging… if that's what had happened.'
The man before him offered a gentle smile. 'You would not, if your head was hurt badly enough,' he said.
'Oh…'
'In any case, you shouldn't rely on the tool too much.'
'What can I even do, then?' Arin huffed. 'Call upon Tarra? I'd tried that, hadn't I? I can't help it if she's busy, on whatever errand you've sent her on.'
'You are correct. And that's why, she'll be here to aid with the rest of your assignment.' The man raised a hand to elegantly point at the bedroom door. 'She's right outside.'
Arin's brows wrinkled. 'With the rest of… Isn't it over? Siel's probably already taken care of everything back at Silvershade, and I've… dealt with the distortion. What else is left for me to do anymore?'
The white-haired man tilted his head to one side. 'How long do you think has passed, Arin? It is still the same night. Or, well, early in the morning, now. In any case, it's only been a few hours since you'd contacted me.'
…
Huh?
The man laughed at his expression. 'If you are that confused, I should probably inform you that you needn't travel to Silvershade. That's where you already are.'