Sisters

"Lintel?! LINTEL!!!"

Goddamnit.

I'm too late.

As usual, I made up my mind far too late.

By the time I gave my warnings, the lizard was already touching the orb.

DAMNIT.

It's strange.

This was my goal, after all.

This is what I wanted.

This is what I was waiting for, for so long.

Why am I so upset?

I've achieved my goal.

I've won.

"Heya, Rox. It's been a long time, huh?"

Lintel is standing right in front of me. But it's not him anymore.

He's been completely taken over. His normally yellow eyes are a piercing light blue, and he grins a malicious grin that I didn't know he could even make.

He's been completely taken over.

By the one who grew up with me.

The one who built this dungeon with me.

The one who's soul I had sealed away

My dear old sister.

"It has been, Ves."

There are many different schools of magic, but the one most considered taboo is that to do with the soul.

This is because the soul is a complete mystery. And more importantly, it is very fragile.

If someone's body is damaged, it can be healed. On its own, the body will repair itself, clinging to life. With magic, even entire limbs can be regenerated.

But the soul is different. Any damage applied to the soul is permanent.

This is why, despite powerful healing magic, nobody can bring back the dead.

The body can be brought back to a pristine state, healthier than it ever was before.

But once the body stops functioning, the soul rapidly deteriorates.

Nobody knows why. Some theorise that the soul tries to bring the body back, at its own expense. Others think that once the body dies, the soul simply evaporates into nothingness.

And since the soul is so fragile, it's taboo to even think of manipulating it with magic. Completely forbidden. Even demons would shun anyone found to be practising it.

The risk is simply too much. I know of the consequences of practising soul magic first hand.

But as much as the soul is fragile, it is also resilient. As long as it has a vessel, it can carry on. I had sealed away my sister's soul many years ago, and alone in this dungeon, she has been waiting.

After all, what could she do? Her vessel was a simple glass orb, protected by dozens of enchantments.

If she truly wished to, I have no doubt she could have broken free from this prison. But then what? With her vessel broken, she would cease to exist.

Thus, she instead bided her time, alone in this dungeon.

Of course, I was correct. She easily broke free from the orb on her own volition once Lintel touched it. I had been banking on this when I first made my plan.

And now she has a new vessel.

A physical body.

Cytchenrok, Lintel.

"What's wrong, Rox? Aren'tcha happy to see me?"

Ves sneers at me with Lintel's body.

"Come ooooon, don't be such a stick in the mud. Ah, how long has it been? Days? Months? Years? I've been in that orb for so long I've gone a bit loopy. But look, what a nice offering you've made to me! A real body, flesh bones and all! How generous!"

She laughs maniacally. God, she's more unhinged than she was when I sealed her.

"Do you know what it's liiiiike? I've gone for so long, without feeling, without thinking! AHH!! This is so refreshing! Do you know what it's like, not to feel? Finally, I can get some STIMULATION!!"

She takes Lintel's claws and rakes them across his chest, cutting through his leather strap and leaving deep cuts down it.

Damnit.

"AAAHHHHHH!!!!! YES! THIS IS WHAT I'VE BEEN WAITING FOR!"

She's gone completely insane. Not that I can blame her.

It looks like I'm going to have to default to my original plan.

"Aaaahahahaa, what's wrong, Rox? Why are ya just standing there? Didn't you come here to kill me?"

She's right, but that was before. Shit, what do I do?

"Well then, why don't we have a little FUN?!"

All at once, she lunges at me. Close combat, a mage's worst enemy. Lintel was attacking with his sword, but his claws are just as deadly a weapon.

Of course, close combat is extremely bad in this situation for a different reason.

Ves is not dumb. She's incredibly smart, actually. Smarter than me, that's for sure. So the longer I left her in the orb, the more time she had for scheming.

Which is why I've had to take extreme precautions to kill her.

Trapping her in the orb was a temporary solution. It's lasted this long, but I always knew I'd have to finish her off eventually.

Just smashing the orb would be enough to disperse her soul, but it would be too risky.

Her ultimate goal is to overtake my body.

Blasting the orb with magic might work, but she might be able to use that as a medium to reach me. And once her soul reaches me, it's over.

The orb is protected by so many wards that a physical attack wouldn't have worked, either.

This was the only solution I could come up with - dabbling back in with the taboo.

If I have another traveller with me, they can act as a sacrifice. Though of course, they wouldn't know that.

I'd have them touch the orb, and trust Ves to be resourceful enough to break free and overtake them.

From there, it gets trickier.

A soul is typically chained to a body, which prevents it from leaving. That's why you don't normally see people's souls popping out and possessing people.

Well, ok. You do see it sometimes. Demons actually have a reputation for it, despite the taboo. But it's not something just anyone can do.

Once that chain is broken, a soul is able to flit between vessels. So battling with Ves right now is really risky.

If she's able to even graze me with her claws, I'm sure that would be enough to transfer herself to my body.

And like with the orb, shooting her down with magic might as well just give her a bridge to me.

Physical attacks would work, but I'm in no position to be able to kill her like that.

So, I only have my trump card left.

You see, it's only a problem because she's unchained from her vessel. So what happens if I reapply that restriction?

It's not like I've been doing nothing for the past few years.

I've been doing research, and I found just the spell.

Chain of Consent. An extremely sketchy spell that essentially lets you bind two souls together. So when one soul dies, the other dies with it. No chance of escape.

I'll need to use part of my own soul to bind them, so I won't come out of this unscathed.

Oh well, it's not like my soul is healthy anyways. It's already quite damaged, to be honest.

I have no guarantee this will actually work, either. It's not like I could test it out or anything. But the grimoire I found it in is pretty reliable, so it's my best bet.

The difficult part is the execution.

Ves is wildly swinging at me, relishing the physical exertion. I've summoned my staff to block the attacks, but I don't know how much longer I can hold out.

"Is this all you've got, Rox? Damn, you've gotten weak."

Of course I have! When I sealed you away, my soul was damaged! I'm nowhere near as strong as I was in my prime, and I never will be again.

And after today, assuming I succeed, I'll be even weaker.

Siiiiighhh.

What kind of life am I leading here?

I manage to fling her off me with my staff.

"Come oooon, what's wrong? Why aren't you attacking me? Damn, I was hyping myself up for this, but you're pathetic! ...don't tell me, are you trying to protect this kid?"

She found me out. I'm trying to do this without hurting Lintel.

"Oh, that is so precious. HilARIOUS! Not only have you grown weak, you've grown soft."

She lifts up her bloody claws.

"So, what. If I start hurting this body even more, what'll you do? Will you come after me? Will you finally get serious?"

But this is the moment I've been waiting for. As soon as she starts taunting me, I cast a fireball at my feet, propelling me forwards. A look of surprise flashes through Ves's face as I rocket towards her, finally grabbing her face.

"Wha-"

It's too late for her to struggle. My spell wraps around her soul and Lintel's, forever binding them together.

I feel part of myself die.

I've won.