__________

Ara staggers back a couple of steps, blinking her eyes to get rid of the black spots dancing in the corner of her sight. The Soul Exchange this time doesn't make her feel as dizzy as the first time, but still, she could never get use to the feeling.

She closes her eyes for a moment, calming herself.

When she open her eyes again, the sight of Kairo's limp body on the floor guides her to lift him into her arms, before gently putting him on the sofa with every one of her other soulmates.

She sighs.

Now that she certain Valentino is the last of her many soulmates, her mind started to conjure up many scenarios and questions she doesn't have the answers to.

Including Valentino, the total of her soulmates is eight. Eight wonderful, precious people that are tied to her forever.

Now that she thinks about it, she is quite sure that a normal Soul Exchange happens is when the souls of the soulmates are exchanged, A soul in B body and B soul in A body. This means both of the party should be conscious all the time. But why her soulmates fainted?

She looks at Valentino's wrist, the body she was in, and a cursive and fancy letter of 'S' the exact replica to her Soulmark greets her eyes. The Soulmark is glowing gold, glittering hypnotisingly in the dark.

Is this because of this?

Her Soulmark is weird. So why not her Soul Exchange is weird too?

There's nothing normal about her. Everything in her life so far has been abnormal, a wonder, an enigma.

Already knowing she wouldn't get the answer she seek if she just stares at the Soulmark, she decided to explore the what looks like a mansion in the middle of nowhere, surrounded with tall and sturdy oak trees.

How did she knows, you asked?

A ceiling to floor window covering one side of the living room wall, overseeing a lush and beautiful garden further into the mass of green of forest surrounding the place.

She walks in a kitchen beside the living room, the open concept of the house gives her a cozy feeling. Out of habit, she sauntered to the double door fridge and open it to find row after row of food. Her eyes instantly lit up in delight when she saw her favourite fruit juice sitting innocently in the fridge.

It's even the last one!

She holds out her hand to the drink but the halt for a moment, eyes trailed to the living room guiltily.

It's fine if she takes just a sip, right?

She stares back at the drink, a droplet of water trailed down the glass temptingly. She gulped with difficulty, throat dry and in dire need of water. That specific fruit juice one.

It's okay. It's just a sip...

In a blink of an eye, the glass is in her hand and gulping down her throat in a second.

She groan in bliss as she drinks in big gulp.

"Ah..." Smiling, she puts down the glass as she satisfiedly pat her belly. But then her eyes catch the sight of the empty glass.

She froze.

And slowly pulls back her hand, turns around to walk out of the kitchen like nothing happened.

__________

The house is beautiful with more than eight rooms, not including the bathrooms. She doesn't know if it is a bad thing or not, but she instantly could recognise who a room is belong to with just a glimpse of it.

She rounded a corner back to the living room where all of her soulmates were.

She then plops herself on the carpeted floor among the couches and stares at them.

With time and silence, she was trapped in her own mind. She could just feel the panic rising in the depth of her soul, slowly climbing up to her heart. What should she do?

Before her panic attack could engulf her in its frightening claws, black spots started appearing at the corner of her sight.

Her soul felt like it was sucked out of the body, where in one moment, she was standing, looking and staring at a group of men, and the next moment, she was laying on a soft and silky mattress.

She jolted upright, beads of cold sweat trickling down her temples and back. She was breathing heavily, eyes widen into saucers.

She let out a shaky breath when she realize she was in her room at home. She must be back in her body.

Suddenly feeling dizzy and nauseous, she stumbled as quickly as possible to the bathroom before throwing up.

She feels so weak, head spinning that she couldn't see clearly.

A pair of big, rough hands suddenly gathered her strands of palette purple hair to the back of her head, out of the way as she throws up. One of the hand caress her back in a soothing gesture, a deep familiar voice shushing and cooing accompanied by a smell of vanilla instantly let her know that it was her older brother, Alaric.

"Let it all out." Alaric continue to rub her back while whispering encouraging words from behind her.

He help her wash her mouth and brush her teeth, before supporting her to her bed.

Ara breathed weakly as Alaric tucked her in her bed, patting her hand on her stomach and under her blanket slowly, like one would do to a baby to persuade them to sleep.

After a few silence moments, her head started to clear and with that, she begins to remember all the unbelievable events today. Like the facts she have more than one soulmate and they are inhuman...

She feels her head throb with the thought. She tilted her head to face her brother, intending to pour out her thoughts into words for her brother to hear.

"Ric..." She calls out weakly but he shushes her. "It's okay. Whatever you want to say, I will hear it out tomorrow, okay? Rest. I want you to rest."

He coos and talks to her softly as if she was a baby, all the while his hand patting her non stop. He then sings under his breath, trying to lure her to sleep.

Under the safety of her home and the cocoons of her blanket, or maybe because of the familiar presence of her brother, her breath started to even out slowly as she sleeps.

Alaric slowly stands up and with a last look at her, he let the door to her bedroom shuts behind him softly.

He knows something happened. He knows she found her soulmate. But why, God why, is this so confusing? What is it that actually happened to cause his beloved sister the heartbroken and confused look in her eyes?

Alaric sighs.

He needs his soulmate. Tonight.

Soul Exchange!

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