Omega listened with rapt attention, Quarti was old, if her story was at all true Quarti was possibly eldest soul in all of terra. People gave up life times for the kind of opportunity this little tale consisted of. However something was nagging at her.

“Wait a second, hold up! What about the contract with Obbie? You are telling me that the sneaky spirit went from it wanting to trick you to your death to being your best friend just like that?! I may not have done much spirit whispering but I know for a fact it’s never that easy!”

Quarti flashed her toothy, too pointy grin at Omega, then rolled right into the explanation as if she expected this all along.

“Why no, it was not so simple as simply growing fond of one another, as I said I had over long years become the succor to them. But it was an uneasy shift. For you see it was not even their original scheme to simply devour me whole. For to sup upon spirit flesh is to take in what is that spirit and become of it!”

She rolled her head around, letting hair sweep and then settle into a slowly stilling halo of black strands.

“For you see it was the michief and guille of Obbie my friend to supplant the rooting of a human soul in life and by which steal up all the nourishment and prayer to be had.”

Aleph made a strangled shriek at the mention, but Omega shook her head a bit. Whispering the phantom of a story told to scare children and fresh souls.

“But everyone knows that’s impossible, nothing less then a proper human soul can take root in a mother’s womb... Her body and spirit would reject it outright or child and mother would perish fighting the intrusion”

Quarti bowed her head low, letting hair swoop down to cover her face. Voice rough and hollow and foreign.

“Oh but all humanity but scant few had perished dear blue one. And Obbie was young as a figment to the ways of humans. e’ learned hard lessons of these, and such anger and vitriol did I pour upon them for their mistakes.”

Her teeth shined, her hair covered her eyes and nose, there were growls and a hair raising resonance all around the oracle.

“First of abominations did Obbie try in trickery and foulness was to slither within the quickening of mine unborn siblings to take up the role of their soul. So forth was I the only child of my mother to survive for long sad years till the fool e’ was give up on the endeavor”

Omega’s belly writhed and she could feel her last meal squirm with sudden discomfort at its position in her stomach. The toothsome apparition that had taken up Quarti’s place somehow widened her grin even further and inclined its head towards her a little.

“Second of foulness was e’ tried to take on the prayer of my family and friends directly, although less some a disaster or painful stillborn this wrought e’ could not even with stolen parts traded from my soul shreds ingest and subsume the thoughts and focus of living human spirit no matter how e’ struggled to”

Omega could not even, her face was slack and she suspected Aleph was as well. The magnitude of the horror beget by the thing.

“And, y-you called this thing FRIEND?! A-are there still things like this LIVING on TERRA?!”

Her younger friend's voice was shrill, eyes wide. Quarti continued to grin and dipped her head a bit.

“Quite a lot some and many more worse than that little red child. Many a thing of spirit and weft that can do us souled folk harm out of hunger. But as Big Blue says all upon Terra knows better now wise. We’ve learned them up on it good since me and Obbie. But either ways not the tale yes!”

She tossed back her head and the looming eyes maw of teeth was gone again, replaced with the happy smile and wide eyed delight of quarti again. Voice gentle and young, carrying on as if nothing was the matter and she had not been just speaking of terrible perversions and disquieting horror.

“I was mighty cross with Obbie over both those intrusions of e’s for many a year, but we both came back around to talking again. It was a long time to stay cross and I’d known e’ for my whole life then. It was hard to stay mad even given the crimes.”

A soft whispering sigh on the tale teller’s lips.

“And after when I was willing ta trickle a feed of special shaped prayer e’s way after swearing out of e’m a promise to nay do such ever again e’ grew mighty more agreeable towards I. Twas half o’ year after I had brought e’m back into my good graces that ole Obbie did come afore me!”

A long and lazy wink from one eye before she spun and then she was shrouded in dress and hair and her voice was whispery and soft, lilting and breezy. Echoing oddly and whispering almost right behind the ear. Tickling hints of strange resonance tones make Omega shiver.

It was like feeling halfway there, it was the slightest hint of presences that reminded her of her forays into projecting herself out from her body, loose and free with her flesh left in the catatonia of near death.

“Oh, Forth-dottir say I That be named Obbie! You have supped me fine and fat upon the gifts of your voice and thoughts! Made room for me to grow and thrive in your memories. Enriched and performed the sweet dance of bestowing my wealth and made me richer then trees among my kin. For all this and more I call our debt settled and your corpse flesh your own. Let this bargain not remain between us ever more!”

Quarti beamed, her voice then flowed much like and yet unlike her own. Rich and alive and physical again, no longer whispering free.

“So naturally like I accepted those terms, and that was how me and Obbie did become fast friends true. Instead of debtor and repossessor”

Aleph blinked a few times then frowned.

“But what about when you said everyone died?”

Quarti laughed bright and jubilant in spite of the morbidity of the question.

“Well as I was telling-”