Chapter 41 - Soulgate

“Sophia Valerossia.”

It was a prayer, no more. I gave wings to it with baited breath, but deep inside I knew it would avail me for nothing. Nothing is ever that easy, was it?

WARNING! Access to information restricted to clearance level Omega 5.

Omega 5? For Sophia? Why? Even Stahl, a relatively major figure in the Federation army had only merited an Alpha clearance.

“Query: State parameters for clearance level Omeg-”

The rest of those words died in my mouth as the system window began to flash red all of a sudden. This couldn’t be good. Had the system detected my intrusion? But I thought my clearance level granted me access.

Why did I warrant a clearance level anyhow?

I was about to voice my question when a new window popped up in right in front of my face.

WARNING!

File corruption has been detected. Emergency backup system has been initiated.

Restoring systems to nominal levels..

Progress 1%

“Wait, wait, I’m not finished yet! Stop!” I frantically waved my hands and shouted. “Cancel. Abort. Exit. Pause.”

Nothing worked as the status bar slowly filled up. As it did, the desolate landscape that had become the Labyrinth began to emit a neon green glow underneath the thick layer of ashes blanketing it all. It slowly gained intensity, even as the ashes themselves seemed to absorb some of that luminosity. Without the slightest hint of a breeze, the smallest specks of ash began to float off the ground, being gathered by some invisible power towards a central point high in sky.

More and more particles began to gather, gaining momentum as the status bar in front of me reached 10%. Thick streams of green light began to flow smoothly towards that ball of light, which began to slowly revolve on its own axis. As it continued to gain mass at an absurd rate, its glow reached the point where it was almost blinding.

“Mommy, what happened? I can feel power being restored to the Labyrinth!” came Shia’s alarmed voice.

“It must be some sort of brilliantly conceived and flawlessly executed fail-safe mechanism!”

“You mean you stuck your fat foot on a trap,” came Shia’s pedantic reply.

“Eh, if you must insist with your, how did you put it, ‘crass oversimplification’. Anyway, I tried to stop it but it isn’t working and it is almost halfway done by now. Any ideas?”

“Can’t you.. Do your grouchy old guy act again?”

“What grouchy.. Oh. Eh, I guess I should try. Though I’m not much feeling it just at the moment,” I added lamely.

It was the truth. Although I could still feel the remnants of whatever power I had ignited buzzing in my blood, the berserk cries for bloody murder in my head had been turned down by about eleven notches or so.

“Well, whenever you’re feeling up for it Mommy, I think it would really help. I'm sure the terrifying giant ball of doom will be happy to take a number and wait,” came the rather sassy reply.

“Well, we took on the Labyrinth once, we can do it again,” I shrugged helplessly as I glanced at the progress bar. It stood at 25% now.

“Mommy!”

“Oh fine,” I grumbled.

Furrowing my brow, I held out a hand in front of me while focusing my intent and calling back to memory the agonizing mind bender I’d just been put through. Damn Labyrinth. Stupid soulsucking bastards. And voila, that just about did it.

One instant I was holding out my hand and staring into it like I was a drug junkie baked so high I just couldn't decide whether it really was my hand or not, then the next a glowing sword burning with etheral blue flames sprang into being in it - Yeah, just like that.

Long live the soul realm, or whatever this place could be called. In here, my crappy physical constitution meant nothing, and the untold thousands upon thousands of souls I had absorbed meant I was veritably bursting at the seams with power. Though I still couldn’t make heads or tails of this damnable place, if all it took to wield this power was the strength of an iron will, then I could liberally deliver a big can of whoopass on anyone, anytime.

God, it felt good to be me once more.

“Wow, that was impressive Mommy!” Shia trilled excitedly.

I squinted critically at the sword for a long moment, then the silliest mental image of one of the old vintage films gramps used to watch floated to the surface, unbidden. The scene consisted of a tomb explorer facing a master swordsman in a one to one duel, and the latter began by unsheathing a very impressive monster of a blade and expertly flourishing it in the air, grinning evilly as he challenged the explorer.

In turn, the explorer had casually proceeded to draw his trusty revolver from its holster and blasted the poor deluded fool into kingdom come with a single effortless shot from twenty yards out. The poor devil had gone down like he'd been pole-axed and that was that.

That’s right. Never bring a knife to a gunfight.

That’s some solid advice, right there.

Matching words to actions, I disdainfully tossed the flaming sword over my shoulder, then furrowed my brows as I decided to give this whole arming myself to the teeth in soul munitions another shot.

“Um, Mommy? Flaming swords might come in handy right about now, you know,” Shia called out dubiously.

I barely let out a snort in reply as I exerted the full power of my will. C'mon, come to daddy!

There! I couldn’t help but grunt with surprise as I suddenly found myself heavily overbalanced when another light flashed over my hand and a monstrous contraption of radiation-shielded titanium alloy likely weighing well over 180 pounds nearly wrenched my arm out of the socket.

Portable (Yeah right!) anti-materiel fusion missile launcher, or Little PAM as they had become known during the war. They were cumbersome, weighed about a metric ton and you basically made yourself a sitting duck right in the middle of wherever the hell you were, painting yourself as a priority target to anyone who wanted to avoid being blasted into nuclear waste. But if you did manage to get a shot off, well. You would have more pressing concerns at hand, like how to avoid being blasted into nuclear waste by your own gun, as I’d previously mentioned.

“Haha! Now that’s more like it!” I roared like a little kid who had picked up the rubber duckie Santa had left under the tree and hauled the stingy old bastard by the cuff and clubbed him senseless with the ridiculous rubber bird, then snatched the old man’s bag of goodies for good measure and found a whole lot of merriness inside the package.

Oh yeah, time to rain on someone’s parade.

“Alright, who’s the next batter? Step right on up,” I drawled, all teeth while I flicked the safety off and trained the massive muzzle of the nuclear megagun of doom towards the glowing vortex spinning in the sky. "Shia, honey. You might want to close your eyes for this one. It's gonna be one hell of a boom!"

"Go go go!"

“Ahem. Lord Seth, I would appreciate it if you could refrain from taking any ill-advised actions we might all regret later,” came a melodious voice from over my shoulder, back towards where the massive gates had been, sounding mildly amused of all things!

I instantly did a 180, leading with the nuke launcher and instantly regretting it as the sheer mass of it almost wrenched my poor hips out of their sockets. Aw, who am I kidding.

I loved every second of it.

Ask any guy, this is the stuff we live for. All that power, right there under my hands, just begging to be used.

Perfect.

I was ready to let whichever evil overlord had risen from the dead to challenge my stake on this, my little hill out in the middle of nowhere, get a mouthful of catastrophic thermonuclear fissile chain reaction to melt their socks off into radioactive goo and change.

But instead I simply stared. Because I knew this chick.

“Selendra?” I mumbled while gawking like an idiot.

The Gatekeeper, the Guardian of the Keys, the Champion of the Lost, Lady of the Mists of Serenity herself, in the flesh. Or the ethereal equivalent, I suppose. How had she gotten here and what was she doing?

The Goddess of the Gates definitely looked the part, all majestic presence and comforting aura of benevolence. Long, glistening locks of azure fell nearly to her waist over a long, flowing white dress with silver accents. The fabric framed slim curves that nonetheless accentuated all the right places. Her eyes were deep, limpid pools of violet, glowing with an intriguing inner light. Her lips glowed with a pink luster as they lightly curved upward in an amiable smile.

So of course, me being who I am, I just narrowed my eyes slightly as I kept my big nasty gun pointed straight at her.

Sure, I had gotten a really good vibe from her back at the Gates of Oblivion. After all, technically speaking she had cheated in order to haul my burning ass off the fire, back there when I had been running out of fumes and had for all intents and purposes failed in my mad attempt to unlock the Gates of Oblivion with my memories intact.

Still, no point in taking unnecessary risks. I might have screwed a lot of things up for not being willing to trust others, but let it never be said that I had been royally screwed over for being just too damn trusting.

The Lady of the Mists of Oblivion gazed at me with a decidedly mischievous glimmer in her eyes as she brought her hand up to her chest and retreated in mock terror.

“Why, Lord Seth. One hopes you would desist from pointing what I must assume is a terrifying instrument of destruction in the direction of a lady. Especially one who would consider herself your friend.”

“Yeah, about that. I’m a little twitchy after wandering for what seems a freaking eternity through a deathmaze while some obscure evil power tries to suck my soul dry for supper,” I grinned rather apologetically while my gun didn’t waver in the slightest.

“The Corrupt Ones have been vanquished - by your capable hands, might I add. This particular Soulgate had been in their foul clutches for a mere handful of years, yet your victory over them is still very impressive.”

“Meh, it was a walk in the park,” I scoffed, then glanced over my shoulder towards the glowing vortex spinning in the sky behind my back. “You have 10 seconds to tell me why I shouldn’t blow that thing to hell before it revives.”

“There are a host of reasons, Lord Seth,” Selendra responded with a smile, then spread her hands to the sides in an appeasing gesture as she continued speaking while staring straight into my eyes. “Perhaps one of the more immediately relevant ones to your person might be the fates of your lost companions, little Sol and faithful Reaver.”

My eyes blazed with fire as I tightened my grip. “Keep going. Five seconds.”

“The taint has been cleansed and the Soulgate will soon be restored. I can feel the wandering remnants of their souls lingering in this place, unwilling to pass on towards the Mists of Serenity. You may be able to bring them back.”

I grit my teeth while my mind worked furiously. On the one hand, would I truly be able to save Sol and Reaver? What if this was all a trap? How had Selendra suddenly shown herself here, out of nowhere, at the exact time when she was most needed to prevent a major catastrophe as I blew the remnant souls of Sol and Reaver into radioactive ashes?

No, I realized. Some things never change. If something sounds too good to be true, then it usually is. Though the risk of letting that glowing ball in the sky finish whatever it was doing might only be the reconstruction of that hellish labyrinth, along with those soulsucking bitches making a comeback.. That disturbing segment of blank tape inside my head where I could not recall how I had ended up burning this whole world to cinders was simply too much of a risk.

I could only hope that Sol and Reaver would find peace in whatever reincarnation the system admins and the Valkyrie network found for them, in spite of Shia’s fears to the contrary.

I’m sorry kiddo. And you too, you stinking mutt. We had a good run.

As I steeled myself to turn around, Selendra lifted her hand in my direction in earnest entreaty. Only, it wasn’t me she spoke to.

“Guardian of the Soulbound, spread your perception and you shall find the veracity of my words for your master!” she cried out.

Guardian of the Soulb.. Oh crap, Selendra could feel Shia’s presence? After a moment, I realized it made perfect sense, since Selendra may well have been the one to give Shia to me in the first place, back when I had overcome the trials at the Gates of Oblivion.

“Mommy, she’s right! I can feel it as well! It’s so faint I can barely sense them, but it is growing stronger and stronger with each second. I think she’s telling the truth!”

At Shia’s words, Selendra seemed to truly lose her composure for the first time since she'd shown up. She stared at me with a blank look of confusion before slightly shaking her head, then she mastered herself and the look of placid serenity was back once more.

That's right, you heard the Guardian just call me Mommy. Ahem. So yeah, I’ve picked up a little book-child who just so happens to be a sentient artifact of unfathomable power. But enough about me, what’s new with you doll?

Uh-huh. I might just have pointed out such a fact, merely for the hell of it and to watch her reaction, but that damn status bar had reached 95% already. Whatever was going to happen, I had to make a choice.

It was now or never.

“Mommy! Trust me!” Shia called out, as though she could feel my inner struggle.

I let out a long sigh and flicked the safety back on before unlimbering the big behemoth. Lowering it to the ground with a heavy clanging sound, I casually leaned an elbow over it while staring mournfully at what could have been.

“I’m honored by the trust you’ve placed on my words, Lord Seth,” Selendra said in her graceful, flowing voice, but then seemed to hesitate slightly as she studied my haggard expression. “Are you unwell? Did the summoning of your soul armament tax you too heavily?”

Shia, of course, was the only one who really got it.

“Hehehe, you really just wanted to shoot your newest big bad toy, didn’t you Mommy?” Shia chirped.

Selendra’s eyebrows shot up as her serene smile faltered momentarily.

“Hey, some are born painters, some as singers, others as great leaders of men,” I defended myself while shrugging my shoulders like a guilty schoolboy caught shoplifting, then shot the goddess a cheeky grin. “Me, I just blow stuff up.”

Right at that instant, the bar reached 100% and a new window popped up just as the glowing ball in the sky exploded in a blinding flash of light, forcing me to avert my eyes.

Attention!

File integrity restored. All levels nominal.

Exiting emergency mode.

Congratulations! You have earned a new achievement: "Liberator of the Soulgate"!

When I turned around, I struggled not to gape at the radical change to my surroundings.

The skies were now whole, with an impossibly bright moon and a sea of stars shining down on endless forests that stretched on as far as I could see. We stood in a huge stone courtyard with massive stone pillars erected all around. Towering trees could be seen lining the outer edges of the circle, but down a wide path paved with perfectly flat rocks led into the distance, where tall stone buildings could be seen breaking up the skyline.

“Where are we?” I asked, assessing the surrounding area and looking for possible threats, just out of habit I suppose.

Selendra laid a hand flat against her chest while dipping in an elegant curtsy. “I bid thee welcome to the Shrine of Kadrensaxthras, the Mighty Guardian of the Soulgate of the Crimson Flame.”

“Alright, start from the beginning. What is this Soulgate nonsense? I thought we were in the Labyrinth of souls.”

A cold light entered Selendra’s eyes as her lips twisted in disgust. “Those foul creatures sought to corrupt this holy shrine, and thus twist the powers of the Soulgate to their nefarious ends.”

Selendra must have caught the look of utter bewilderment in my eyes, as slowly she lowered her head for an instant and drew in a long breath. Then she lifted her gaze to meet mine and the refreshing serenity I’d become used to associating with her was back.

“I apologize, Lord Seth. Please allow me to explain, though I shall beg your forbearance as revisiting the dark events involved in this tale is not an easy task, nor a pleasant one.”

I nodded my acquiescence.

“The soul is the vital essence of every living being, and though for mortals their flesh may eventually decay and die, the soul endures. Such mysteries contain unfathomable power, and ever has it been the temptation of lesser wills. These ruthless deviants seek to corrupt and enslave the souls of weaker beings, that they may feed on such an essence and assimilate it into their own.”

I have to admit it, I couldn’t help but wince inwardly at the utter contempt I could hear in the goddess’ voice. I suddenly felt the urge to sheepishly raise my hand and fess up, owning up to the ugly truth that I was, in fact, one of those “ruthless deviants”, as she put it.

Well, for about a hundredth of a second, that is. Hey, what you don’t know can’t hurt you, ya know?

Then again, hadn’t Shia been given to me by Selendra herself, back at the Gates of Oblivion? Wouldn’t she know about my soulbinding ritual then? Questions kept spinning circles in my head but I abruptly centered all my attention on Selendra as my daughter decided to jump the gun for me.

“Excuse me, Lady Selendra. Is this related to the soulbinding ritual?”

Selendra shook her head slowly, then offered a reassuring smile.

“Of course not, child. Though higher powers may engage in a soulbinding ritual with a lesser being, such willing exchanges are a different proposition altogether from what I’ve described. The souls the soulbound is able to absorb and manipulate are directly linked to the power of the magical artifact used as the focus in the ritual, as well as the level of power of the soulbound himself. That is because the soulbound is not truly assimilating the soul energy himself. He’s not even the conduit for such energies, for it is a fearsome power indeed. Instead, the soulbound is merely the benefactor of the excess energy naturally dispersed back to the Infinity Well when all souls leave their mortal shells and return to the Endless Cycle.”

“Uh-huh,” I muttered, deciding to ignore all the fancy new terminology. Hadn’t this chick ever heard of something called layman’s terms? I smirked to myself as the thought crossed my mind that Zephyr and this chick would be a match made in heaven.

“Phew,” Shia breathed a huge sigh of relief.

Selendra nodded lightly in my - and therefore Shia’s direction - while offering a reassuring smile. “As you come into your true powers, you will naturally come to understand this and many deeper truths, dear child. Matters such as the Soulgates, for instance. Originally, these sacred shrines were meant to ensure the safe passage of wandering souls into their next incarnation through the Eternal Cycle. However, a new breed of immortals has arisen who seek power by any means. These corrupt godlings would seek to corrupt the Soulgates and extract weaker soul essences in order to absorb their power, completely destroying their original owners.”

"You mean those so-called "Worthy" running the Labyrinth were gods?" I asked in shock.

Selendra gently shook her head at me, "Surely not, Lord Seth. Though the power of your soul and the might of your will is formidable indeed, you would be but a single candle fluttering in an endless storm in front of the terrible deities I speak of. No, Lord Seth. The petty shades you vanquished were mere ants taking advantage of the higher powers' wilfull neglect."

“Right. That's my next question. Why haven’t you or the other gods done anything about it?”

Selendra’s eyes lost focus as a host of emotions flickered in her gaze. From anger, to frustration, to sorrow, then finally, resignation. It was only then that she spoke. “These are matters I cannot discuss with you for the moment, for the knowledge would only mark your doom. You are simply not strong enough, and there are beings of terrifying power that can sense unguarded minds plotting against their tyrannical will.”

Yeah, thanks for the reminder. Nice kick to the balls, right when a guy is down.

Selendra seemed to have noticed the slight change in my expression, and she smiled apologetically before continuing.

“Do not take my words to heart, Lord Seth. Gather your strength, grasp the threads of your fate and seize dominance over your destiny. Our faith in you has not proven false," Selendra finished with a mysterious smile.

"What? Our? Who's we?" I asked suspiciously.

The goddess swayed her head softly from side to side. "That is neither here or now. Suffice to say, the Soulgates are natural nodes where souls will gather, aiding their swift and safe passage into the Endless Cycle. It is here that you may make a choice, Lord Seth.”

For once, Selendra’s eyes seemed to lose their usual tender lightheartedness, as she met my gaze and spoke in a firm, level tone, “Though I may wish otherwise, I am bound by ancient covenants against interfering in the affairs of the mortal realm.”

Selendra paused for a moment while she lifted a hand in my direction. Her fingers seemed to have lost a certain density, visibly losing focus as they slowly turned transparent right before my eyes.

“Already, I can feel the karmic laws of the cosmos tugging at the edges of my soulsense,” Selendra added with a bittersweet smile. “Time presses, and the choice now lies before you. The soul essences of your companions still linger at the edges of the Soulgate, and though it will demand a great sacrifice from you, you may yet be able to summon them back into this mortal realm.”

Indeed, her figure was growing more vague and illusory by the second, as though her flesh were slowly dissipating into glowing motes of light.

“How?” I asked succinctly.

Selendra gently dipped her head in the direction of the stone path leading towards the buildings in the distance, as her figure continued to disperse.

“You will find your answers there. The Keeper of the Shrine shall guide you the rest of the way. I have done all I can for now.”

Selendra’s eyes crinkled slightly at the edges in a tender smile, “Child, serve your master well, for he will need your strength and support in the dark tides to come.”

“Yes, Lady Selendra.” Shia answered with uncharacteristic gravity.

"Why are you helping me?" I blurted out, while silently kicking myself. I couldn't help it. If only she knew that I had come to her world in order to utterly destroy it..

Selendra wordlessly gazed into my eyes, and chills ran down my back as it almost felt as though she were reading the thoughts right out of my head. She then tilted the corners of her lips upward in an amused smile, and slowly shook her head from side to side.

“Fare thee well for now, Lord Seth. May the Great Mother watch over your steps, just as she ever has.”

Well, I would take that as a vague acknowledgement that she'd been warned. It's not like I could simply go up to a full blown god and casually spout, "Hey, I'm here to burn your world to cincers. Yeah, just like I've done here in the Labyrinth. Yep, I'm just telling you now because I'm an idiot with a deathwish with guilt-ridden conscience issues."

So, I did the next best thing. “You as well, Selendra. You have my thanks.”

Hey, give me a break. I almost never give anyone thanks. That's something, at the very least.

Selendra offered me one final smile, that same mischievous one she had shared the last time before sending me through the Gates of Oblivion, and then she was gone.

Oh crap.

Eh, I was starting to have a bad feeling about this so-called Keeper of the Shrine.

“Aw well, how bad could it be?” I muttered to myself while bending over to sling my trusty metaphorical flaming sword over my shoulder.

And by metaphorical sword, of course, I meant my totally badass tactical nuke launcher.

“Hehehe, what’s the worst that could happen?” I chortled, then whistled a merry little tune while trudging down the walkway.

Famous last words.