"A soul lost in time, with hope for a new start of course," the words were written on obsidian sheets as they reflected the surroundings. He was truly about to be welcomed into his world — not as Arthur, but as someone reborn for the first time in a long while: an introduction to a journey he would have to live through regardless of his desires.
"Are you going to keep doing that?" I asked, my confusion, fear, and every other emotion consumed by anger.
"Doing what?" the words on the obsidian sheet replied in cursive, as if enjoying themselves. The humanoid shadow behind them smiled.
"Answering questions with questions." I shouted and threw one of the weapons lying on the ground at the humanoid shadow.
"Listen—most of the time I am a calm person, but I nearly died, so I don't care how far I have to go to force this out of you." I said coldly; I could feel my veins pulsing.
The obsidian sheet disappeared, and a familiar metallic voice followed.
"Listen. One day I will need you to do something for me. By then, hopefully you will be different — more useful, but also more difficult. Then, and only then, your biggest curiosity will be satisfied." The voice rang cold in my ear, hiding any emotion. I could still tell what it was.again ignore what I said contiueing it own conversation
"So what will I get now?" I asked. I was still hot with anger; the energy that fueled me had almost gone, and I felt somewhat deflated.
"The knowledge that will lead us to that future — in which you might be able to achieve something." The voice had more emotion than before, filled with an ambitious hope.
"How many times do I have to say it? Stop with nonsense." I repeated half-heartedly, like a miner trying to find a vein of hope in a collapsed cave.
"Options, options, friend. As for guarantees that I won't hurt you.— our lives are tied together. If one dies, so does the other." The obsidian returned, the written world appearing again; then it fell mute, only smiling and observing. Again as if he answers question that was never even mentioned
"really keep that act up, and I could just run away and live somewhere alone. I'd have to make sure they don't find me." I stated a plan I genuinely considered, imagining a quiet life — and hoping nobody tried to kill me there.
The shadow stared. It wasn't even worth acknowledging.
'Fair. It would take me long to make hole through that plan myself,' I thought, stepping back.
"You can share what you want," I added. "But one thing I won't let you play around: why can you control my body?" I said in the coldest voice I could muster as I stared at him.
"Your body's—quite hypocritical, don't you think? Don't worry. If what you're afraid of were an option, we wouldn't be having this conversation." He said in a humorous metallic voice.
I flinched a little at his words, but kept staring.
"How many times — at least?"
I contuied
"Would you believe what I say?"
I kept staring
"So why ask? Let's not waste our time with pointless questions."
"If I'm going to accept this reality, then tell me where I am, who those people are, who I should act like, and whether there's a possibility of danger again. You already did a decent amount of help — maybe do a bit more. For example, make it less likely I'll get caught." Exhaustion seeped into my voice.
"Good. Now let the lesson begin. But know that I didn't gather this personal information—" The words were not like they came out of a printing machine; they were suddenly oddly human.
The humanoid shadow shifted. Its robe became a living night that drank candlelight; its fingers unspooled into curling script, the sound of pages turning echoing in its hand.
"Didn't or couldn't?" I pressed, trying to claw back what little revenge I could.
The shadow frowned for the first time, then let it pass. That pleased me a bit.
"I don't give my wisdom even to my son, so some respect, please." The metallic voice echoed with a souring tone, as if reflected in a destroyed armory.
'Not something to brag about,' I rolled my eyes. Then the word 'son' snagged my attention.
"Son? What—how?" The words caught me off guard.
"I was of flesh once," it continued in a harder voice.
"You want knowledge, so let's get to it." It flushed past the topic as if unwilling to dwell.
"Son is not something you just gloss over," I said, trying to distract it and myself.
"Anyway—let's start." It cut me off and continued.
I sighed as I lost sight of the interesting thread. I gathered my strength and faced it; I needed to understand anything at this point, because moving with only pieces of small pieces of info I had was probably going to get me killed.
"I'm listening," I said simply, keeping my emotions controled.
"Well, let's start from where we are. Welcome to the Alus Pensale, home to what was once a perfect empire, torn apart by incompetence. You are currently in the Palace of Talyaws of the Kingdom of Elson — the remains of that empire I just mentioned. The capital; it mostly worships one deity, Onyx — the same one Arthur and most of other nobles worships, remember that."
It was talk in mostly human voice that held age to it and surprising cold wisdom in them
"Right now two dukes are rebelling for religious reasons with foreign aid. They worship Susan, and so does other small kingdom in the pensale. I don't have a map to show you the rest, but let's focus on Elson. It is made of multiple counties under a royal head: seven dukes in total, two of whom are currently at open rebellion. You are one of those 7 dukes — a middle-ranking one, but stronger compared to many others. Nobles have their own armies. If we divide the kingdom, the dukes combined hold most of the power; crown authority is very weak. Your army numbers 1,500–1,700 men, a couple of well-trained units. The crown has 3,000–4,000 men but only a few of those are elite. You pay thirty percent of your gold in monthly taxes and must send a third of your men when the crown calls for war — like now." The shadow's tone turned the lesson into history, as if it were a teacher.
I listened, but impatience gnawed at me. It was useful information, but pointless right now; I needed to live to go back.
"That's not what I asked," I snapped. "Can you go into detail? For example: what does being a duke mean in day-to-day? How close are these people to Arthur exactly? The whole situation is confusing — and the implications... Wait— is he—?" I tried to catch at any straw.
"The duke will be by your side, helping. As for later—how should I know? I could try, but I'd much rather not." The shadow's voice shifted from neutral to bored; the metallic edge smoothed and became almost human, as if it were getting used to speaking.
"So again — what am I supposed to do?" I asked, pleading.
"Don't worry. You'll gain experience. Your wife is an issue they seemed close, but that is your job to figure out. And she is sick maybe that issues well solve itself" It said, mostly human now.
"My job? Yeah, definitely not going to f—k anything." I spat.
"What are thos religions anyway and are they real, my lord?" I felt my head ring. My voice was breaking from anger; I didn't know what I was truly angry about or what I feared. Not for lack of suspects, though — unfortunately.
"Listen," the shadow said. "It's beneficial for me that you understand, but that part. It's too much to cram at once. You're better off understand with gradual guidance. Moreover you don't need know ,but they are very real" The obsidian voice was calm and neutral.
"What else?" the written word asked, growing difficult to read — the shadow losing interest.
I took a breather, trying to calm myself.
"How exactly does this work?" I gestured to my body. "Is he dead? Am I possessing a corpse?" The memory surfaced suddenly.
"No. The one you possess is alive and somewhat conscious. He mostly sees flashes and can't speak to you." It didn't seem to care much, but behind the faceless mask there was a hint of interest — an uncontrollable lust for novelty, for the new.
The implication hit me like a buried blade.
"How does this even work?" I asked, desperate to claw my way out.
"Look at your right hand."
I did. A ring sat there, a shining crystal at its heart glowing like a dark sun. It was mesmerizing, as if it contained an entire being.
"That is us," the familiar voice said, gesturing at the ring.
"What are you talking about? It's just a ring," I said, drowning in confusion.
"You aren't entirely human anymore. As for why — mythical magic, I guess." The voice had started to sound almost as confused.
"What magic? How does it work?" I asked, half-heartedly.
As ,
I sighed; I didn't even know what to think.