"Aspect Legacy?..."
The spell's gentle whisper announced the acquisition of something grand with such calmness that it left him stunned.
It was no ordinary thing. It was the foundation of everything. Entire clans had been born and grown from it; this was the root of their power.
Still dazed, he invoked the runes to confirm that it was not a figment of his imagination.
Aspect Legacy: [Promised Reign]
Promised Reign description: [He vowed unto his subjects that, beneath his command, there should be neither hunger nor thirst; that by his arm the foe would be laid low; and that their bodies should never know the bite of cold nor the torment of scorching heat. Ensnared by such abundance, men and women alike, one by one, bent the knee beneath his rule.
When the heavens fell, drowning the world in plagues and anguish, all were swallowed in blood and sand. The promised reign was never made flesh, ordained only to linger as a fleeting falsehood of ages past.
What miracle would dare to gainsay such a fate?]
Promised Reign Blessings: [0/7]
Giovanni's expression tightened as he read the description. Why did everything related to his Aspect seem stained with tragedy?
'I won't let things end like this.'
But it was the number of relics that truly shocked him.
Seven?!
That was far too much for his heart to bear. He barely knew what to do with even one!
Giovanni did not even want to imagine what would happen if a single rumor of this were to leak. It was entirely possible that some legacy clan would abduct him for breeding.
The thought filled him with terror.
As he contemplated the possibilities, his focus shifted to his Soul Sea. It seemed vaster than before, and far more natural.
Not enough to be mistaken for a real place in the world, but it was close.
It felt… right. Until then, he would not have noticed any anomaly, but since the transformation, it was as if the chains that bound him had been broken.
'It's like I've had a clogged nose this whole time without knowing what normal felt like.'
The comparison amused him briefly.
He wanted to spend time exploring exactly what his ability could do, but at the moment, something far more important demanded his attention.
Closing the distance between himself and Sofia, he knelt until he was level with the tearful girl.
Barely a week had passed, and his life had already been saved twice.
Six months of preparation truly had not been enough to survive on his own. He could only be grateful for having found someone he could rely on.
"Let's talk outside, alright?"
Sofia, her eyes still brimming with tears, gathered her strength and nodded weakly.
The scent of the flower field wrapped around them, bringing a calming sensation.
Everything that had happened before… the problems that had led him to this situation had not vanished.
That was why it was time to face them head-on.
His consciousness spilled out of the Soul Sea, returning to the dark chamber.
***
The sensation of his body almost fully submerged in water, his face wrapped in warm steam, and the perfumed scent of soap anchored him back to reality.
Instead of pure darkness, the environment became visible again through his seismic sense, allowing him to feel every inch of the chamber.
In front of him, also in the water, Sofia, who had jumped in at some point to shake him, came into focus as well.
After plunging into that pool of darkness, his friend was the most beautiful person he had ever seen walk the earth.
He probed her body to understand her silhouette and froze like a stone.
She was naked.
His mind collapsed into a chaotic mix of feelings and thoughts, and all logic dissolved into noise.
Who? Why? When? Where?
Shame, desire, nervousness, panic.
His Aspect ability was not like sight, which one could simply avert, but rather the perception of everything at once.
In a panic, he did the closest thing to smashing a communicator and abruptly cut off the use of his powers.
But what he had already sensed was enough to make his entire body react as if struck by lightning.
Something threatened to rise.
'Death, sadness, pain, loneliness…'
Desperate to avoid the greatest humiliation of his life, he resorted to a secret technique to stabilize his body.
But before he could regain his composure, an avalanche of feelings, sensations, and perspectives that did not belong to him invaded his mind.
'Death, sadness, pain, loneliness…' his thought echoed from a nearby mind.
'A familiar voice answered within him. 'Why is Giovanni thinking these things? Is he really okay?'
'Did I say something out loud? No, impossible, I'm silent, of course I'm fine, I'm fine?'
Random thoughts formed incomplete lines of reasoning that echoed inside Sofia's head.
But that was only the beginning.
The worst was yet to come.
In an instant, Giovanni ceased to be a single entity.
He was the boy thinking about his friend's breasts. She was the girl hearing her friend think about her breasts.
Happiness, embarrassment, confusion, panic.
He was the young man trying to hide an erection as if it were a death sentence. He was the young man peering at his own body through a flood of information.
She was the young woman in ecstasy at knowing she was the most beautiful person Giovanni had ever seen on earth. She was the young woman peering at her own body, her gaze caught by vibrations running across the room.
She was the person experiencing, for the first time, what it was like to be a man. Without realizing it, she pondered whether that size was good or small compared to the average.
He was the person experiencing, for the first time, what it was like to be a woman. His mind briefly reflected on the uncomfortable difference in weight on his chest.
They were like a single entity.
Two screams echoed through the chamber.
***
That was the worst day of his life.
Giovanni and Sofia stood on opposite sides of the bath, in complete silence.
The girl had retrieved her towel, and the boy had summoned his robe, but the damage was already done.
His reputation would never recover; this was a catastrophe.
After the initial shock of the mental bond, both sides did everything they could to contain their thoughts and feelings, keeping them from spilling over into the other's.
It was nothing but a cruel joke.
No, sadistic.
No teenager should have their thoughts exposed like that!
All the boy wanted was to sit down and cry.
'She hates me, she hates me, she hates me, she hates me.'
Negativity, fear, anxiety.
Even as he tried to contain them, his feelings still leaked out like an annoying drip. On the other side, Sofia trembled slightly and glanced briefly at Giovanni. She looked as though she were about to burst into tears.
Negativity, shame, anger.
Her intense emotions were the closest thing to a psychic punch he had ever received. Unlike his, they were not restrained; on the contrary, they seemed amplified.
It was his fault, so all he could do was accept the deserved treatment. Even so, all Giovanni wanted was to apologize.
Both for that fiasco and for nearly dooming their group just before the expedition.
Guilt, guilt, despair.
He continued to emit guilt, hoping to convince the girl to listen.
Eventually, her irritation faded, giving way to confusion, embarrassment… and relief.
She stood up and, with hurried steps, crossed the chamber. When close enough, punches rained down, incapable of causing any damage through the robe, yet still pinning him against the wall.
"I was preserving myself, you pervert!" she exclaimed, her voice sharper than usual.
Giovanni pressed his forehead to the floor, begging for mercy. He felt that actions would speak louder than any words.
At some point, after staring at her friend in that state for a few seconds, Sofia seemed unable to bear another moment.
Her feelings flared up again.
Satisfaction, guilt, shame, indecision.
"Just stop it…" She dropped to the floor and sat beside him.
Giovanni lifted his head and sat beside her.
"I'm sorry for everything! For the proposal, for giving in again, for looking…" Before he could finish the last part, a shadow reminded him to keep his mouth shut.
He had expected anger to explode from her, but the emotions were different from what he imagined.
Guilt, sadness, loneliness, happiness.
"I don't want your apologies for that! It's my fault, okay?! I accepted the offer because I was afraid of dying; I was a coward." She pressed a hand to her chest.
"I want an apology for leaving me alone! After that conversation, I was forced to stay in the company of two people who don't even see me as human, and for what? To make me comfortable?" The accusation struck true.
Giovanni had kept his distance because he believed that staying close to someone he might possibly order around would only cause more discomfort.
"I just… just… I'm sorry for running away." Before he could elaborate on a justification, he cut himself off and went straight to the point. He had simply been afraid to face that reality. There was no other reason.
Anger, satisfaction, happiness.
When it seemed the conversation had died, Sofia finally delivered her verdict.
"Apology accepted. That wasn't so hard, was it?" she murmured, glancing at him from the corner of her eye.
"No, it wasn't. But that doesn't solve anything, Sofia. How am I supposed to deal with this situation?! I wasn't made to have control over anyone, I shouldn't have…"
Even without experiencing it, he was almost certain what Eric's answer would be.
Why would he receive an ability like this? Why would he be given a flaw like this?
Being forced to have others serve him because he was incapable of doing the work with his own hands made him want to tear his face off.
"Like we have so far! Look me in the eye and answer me, Gigi. Would you control me? Would you use me?" Sofia grabbed him by the collar of his robe, forcing their faces to remain just inches apart.
Before, he would have taken that as bravery. But her feelings expressed only fear and insecurity.
"No! I would never force you to do anything. I swear, I swear on my life!"
Sincerity, conviction, desperation.
He knew that verbal promises would never be enough to calm the girl's primal fear. Because if Giovanni were in her place, he would feel the same.
She took a deep breath and spoke, her voice trembling slightly.
"T-Then do it… Give me an order. I need to be sure."
The nightmare that the meeting had seemed to repeat itself before his eyes. And now it was Sofia herself who asked.
He had refused once, when Eric had ordered him. Should he refuse again?
Time passed slowly, almost frozen in his mind.
What was the right decision? Which choice would bring the best future?
With a heavy heart,
He chose.
***
She waited for the answer in silence. The boy's feelings leaked out so intensely that it was as if she herself were living them.
Sofia was almost tempted to leave the question unresolved until the end of her days.
Sometimes ignorance was the cure for feelings.
But it was obvious it wasn't.
What she truly needed was the truth, and nothing else.
Only then could her mind be at peace, whatever her new reality might be.
Giovanni lowered his gaze, focusing on his companion's fingers, and issued his order.
"Give me your hand."
Something blossomed in the girl's chest. It was not a sensation like pleasure nor a feeling like happiness… it was power.
For an instant, her body and soul seemed filled with strength. Her senses sharpened, her muscles reinforced, her mind accelerated.
There was no resistance. Her body moved on its own, placing her fingers in the boy's palm, which held them gently.
The power faded, replaced by the mundane sensation of her own body.
As expected, she obeyed.
Giovanni turned pale, staring at his friend's hand in the darkness.
"Well… now we know, don't we?" Sofia finally murmured.
She had already imagined it would be so, so she could not say she was shocked. Even so… it was staggering.
Her mind oscillated between opposing thoughts.
A servant.
An irreplaceable friend.
The most beautiful person he had ever seen.
The most expensive doll in the collection.
A promise born from the depths of his heart.
Mere words that could not be broken.
What was her true identity?
One side of her heart saw it as a new phase of her life… a life she would have lost without him. Sofia would have died of thirst, locked in the room she had been summoned to, or, at best, would have become one of the aberrations consumed by the music later on, without any chance of resistance.
The other side said it was merely an eternal punishment and that, at the very least, dying would have been more dignified than becoming a tool, a slave to another person. Who could guarantee that Giovanni would keep his word? That he would not become a despicable person in the future?
"Then keep your word, Gigi." It was the only thing she could say with certainty.
The words she had read in her runes that day echoed in her mind.
[Your body and soul now serve the Golden Prince's Promised Reign.]
And then, the recent vision of the sun reigniting not long ago, pushing the night away with its light, flashed before her eyes.
For better or worse, Sofia was part of something greater.
Something that promised to grow beyond everything she had ever seen.
She gently took the boy's face, forcing him to look into her eyes. How could Giovanni be more frightened and trembling than Sofia herself?
'Mom, what have I gotten myself into…?'
There was no solution to that problem. It would always be there until the end of the days they remained together, which promised to be… forever.
So all that remained was to pray.
To pray that her body and soul belonged to the right person.