A few years later..

“And that, my dear girl, is the end of tonight's chapter.” I smiled, dropping the strip of leather to keep our place and then snapped the book shut.

“Awwww! Come on Papa! I wanna know how you and Momma got away from the scary ghoul monster! Can we do one more chapter? Pleaaaase?” My little girl pulled the covers up to her face and tried her best to give me her best puppy dog eyes.

I mean, it was an incredible story, and I really wanted to, but I had already made plans tonight so I had to stay strong.

“Aw I’m sorry kiddo, but I’ve got a special date with your Momma tonight! And you know how mad she’ll be if she thinks I forgot…Hmm, I know, how about this. We’ll tuck you in nice and snug, aaaas a bug-in-a-rug!-” I harmonised my words and ruffled her hair, much to her annoyance..

“Owww Papa!”

“-And then tomorrow, I’ll read FOUR whole chapters. How does that sound?”

“Hmm. Well, four whole chapters is quite a lot…hmmmmmmmmmm-”

I held my breath, these next words would determine my fate, I could hear the coin

“-mmmmmokay! But you better do four whole chapters! Otherwise, I’ll, uhh, I’ll, get as mad as momma gets!” She gave me a big grin but put on her serious-better-not-mess-around face just in case I didn’t grasp the seriousness of this pact.

Phew! Safe!

“Awesome! I promise we’ll have four whole chapters! Alright let's get you settled in..” I tucked her in tightly, carefully moving the blanket around her small, delicate, but growing fast wings.

She’s growing up too damned fast! I swear it was only yesterday that she was born….born? Tut! I mean hatched, yes, right, hatched. And her little wings back then! They were barely stubs. Cutest little thing.

“There we are, look how snug this is! Oh so comfy! And now we just need little Foursies, where is he gone to now…AH here he is! Uh-oh! He's hungry! Omnomnomnomnom!” I found the little four-jawed knitted squirrel and she squealed as Foursies went for the throat, belly and underarms.

All critical spots for tickle attacks.

“Ahhhhh Papa! Foursies not hungry! He’s had his acorns!” She told me off and beckoned with her small claws for me to hand over Foursies.

“Aha of course, of course. Alright my adorable little bug, have a goodnight and I’ll see you in the morning. I love you lots. mwwwwwah.” I gave her a big peck on the forehead and ruffled her hair, being careful around her small furry antennae ears.

“Nightynight Papa. I love you most-h-hey! Teehee!” She giggled and rolled over, snuggling up to her blanket. “Don’t forget to put my nightlight on please! And remember to always love momma and never leave her okay?”

“Oka-..uhh sure. Of course sweetheart, night night.” I extinguished the candles with a slight frown at what she said but shrugged off it and took out the glowing…orb. Yes, the EXP orb, and placed it on the table. Soft lines of light swirled around it and the immediate air around it took on a pleasant hue of rainbow lights that twinkled as it sucked in the ambient Majik.

Closing the door I sighed with contentment with life, it brought a big smile to my face to think about how happy I was with everything, nothing was wrong at all. It had been a hard few years of adjusting but everything was fine.

Suddenly my hairs stood on end. Oh no. I got the sense I was being watched, and slowly, I raised my gaze to see my…girlfr-..no my wi-..ah, my soulmate.

She stood there with an eyebrow raised, arms folded, a coy smile on her face. A petite thing, with her platinum blonde hair that had very faint streaks of pink and cyan, she gazed at me with her beautiful blue and alluring pink heterochromia pair of eyes. Her wing…I mean wings, ruffled behind her in impatience and she shifted to one side, intentionally showing off her delicate half-naked side profile in the candlelight.

Consider me allured.

She wasn’t wearing any underwear, just a thin-strap night dress that was silvery, where did she get that from huh?

“Sooooo mister. I heard four chapters tomorrow? Ha! You are so easy to manipulate, especially when you know all the softs spots..” her voice was caressing but had the undertone of a predator and she brushed her tongue against her cheek and her eyes flickered to an inappropriate place. “..mmm I should know these things after all.” She stroked a clawed finger on her scale plated forearm.

“Babe!-h-hey! Now! I’m not that easy! I have-” my voice trailed off as I stared at her clawed foot, but my eyes wandered up her bare leg “-self…” compelled to follow the curve of her lower leg muscles, tracing up the naked thigh “-control..” I blushed when I realised I was gazing at the exquisite curves of her back and rear side, mouth agape practically drooling.

What…is…my mind…why can’t I…stop staring…

She gave a short powerful flap of her wings and flew into me, planting her lips on mine and wrapping her arms around my neck.

“Mmmwah. I always knew you were a good one, different from the rest. Ever since we first met. I knew you were a kind soul. You didn’t forget what day it is today, did you?” Her body… her face was so close to mine and she was staring so intently into my eyes.

I felt flustered and anxious. Swallowing, I grinned. “I uhh, of course not! Today is the day where we’ll um, soulbind.”

She rested her head on my chest, letting out a big sigh and muttering under her breath. “See, too easy…too good…” she gazed up. “Carry me to bed?” She pleaded with sparkly eyes.

My heart was racing a thousand miles an hour as I carefully plucked her off the floor and princess-carried her to our bed area. I gently placed her down on the huge heap of cushions and silk blankets, ensuring my gaze did not linger in places it should not. I turned around and closed the thick curtain partition and started getting undressed. I let my thoughts wander to avoid this nervousness that I was strangely feeling.

Ah such a cosy place… huh. Actually, how long have we… been here? And how did we even find it?

“Shhh, shhh, don’t worry about such things. Hurry up and come here.” She coed.

“Ahh you are right, it’s just that…hey hang on, did I speak that out aloud.” I stopped and scrunched my face, something wasn’t quite right.

“Oh hush now boy. Forget it all and just look at me.” A silver night dress hit the back of my head and my body moved on its own. Turning, I gazed at her, she was laying down on her side facing away from me, looking over her winged shoulder, tilting her head back, stretching her neck out on display. Her clawed wing tip was tracing her curves and the intoxicating sight made me shudder with lust.

“Ha-ohhh-kay.” She was right. I was easy to manipulate. She was always right. I shouldn’t question her. Ever. All of my clothes dropped to the floor to which she responded with a whispered pleasure filled moan.

“So-urm. H-how does it all w-work again?” I took an involuntary step forward, my body was going haywire and my mind felt like it was shutting down then rebooting over and over.

“Oooo I think you know full well what's about to happen hmm?” She rolled over, pulling a sheet with her to seductively conceal certain areas.

“A-actually I-I uhhh..” Actually I thought there was more to it than..sex. But hadn’t we done that before already? Many… Times? When? Did we? What about… huh?

I stopped and stood there, searching her candlelit face for an answer but I hadn’t spoken anything and I was getting confused, what was my brain trying to say?

Her face briefly twinged with frustration and she huffed and pounced out of bed and pressed herself against me, pushing me down into the bed.

In an expertly executed manoeuvre, she rolled me onto my back and hopped on top of me.

“Don’t you…want this anymore? Godu? Don’t you want me anymore?” Her eyes were misting up but something didn’t feel right. There was a fakeness to her voice. Her face was unfamiliar, like a mask.

Then suddenly a line of text appeared behind her in midair.

Caution. Neural Orchestra breach. Routine defences are absent. Engage ECM?

“What…hap-”

“No no no! Darling! Don’t listen to it. Don’t look at it! Stay with me! Please!” She grabbed my face and tried to direct it towards hers. She kissed me frantically all over my face.

“Please! I’ll do anything you want, don’t leave me! Don’t hurt me!!”

“Wha! Whoa-ah-he-sto-calm down! I would never hur-”

WARNING. Neural Orchestra breach critical. Complete overwrite imminent. Engage ECM?

Something in the pit of my stomach lurched and my throat closed up. I couldn’t breathe.

“PLEASE! JUST LISTEN TO ME ### FOCUS ON ME ###!” Her voice had turned distant, almost.. Echoey.

“Ack-ughh-b-b-babe-I-c-ca-can-can’t-bb-” my back arched and my limbs started to convulse.

“NO ### CAN’T ### RISK ### SCARED ### HURT ### CORRUPT ### YOU WILL KILL ME!” Her voice sounded like it was coming from everywhere and nowhere. Her mouth wasn’t moving, she was just staring at me with… light pink tears streaming down her face.

ALERT. NEURAL ORCHESTRA SHUTTING DOWN. ENGAGE ECM?

“I-I-I–It-is-o-o-ok-okay-I-w-wi-wil-will-p-p-pro-prot-te-tec-tectt-y-y-yo-you. W-what-ev-ever-it-i-is-ah-”

Her eyes widened and with a gasp I took a gulp of sweet air. Everything flickered and glitched, like a game's graphics gone horribly wrong.

Like a tsunami, realisation dawned on me as I stared into her different coloured eyes.

ENGAGE ECM!

ENGAGING.

MP BURN ACTIVATED.

Time slowed to a crawl as pieces of reality shattered and dissolved around me. Memories - implanted, fake memories - dissolved and were scrubbed from my mind and real ones resurfaced, unlocked and set free.

Marri, Lone! Italy! SHITTING ITALY! FUCK! HOW LONG WAS I UNDER!?

My mind raced as I reached for the last memories I could remember. The ghoul… no. The corrupted. I had tried to fight it, failing miserably, then it ripped my throat out as I Slipfolded.

I should be dead!

After that, I had blacked out and then the jolt of landing hard woke me up. I had taken the moth girl with me, we landed on the roof, and I was really dying, but then I was healed… how?..Oh. AHAH! Ahhh now I remember, what an insane stroke of luck. Dumb noseless shithead.

It had been the combination of the slipfold and my shields. The bastard thing was so monstrously strong it had managed to hold open the fold, trying to finish its hard earned meal, but only for a few seconds before the combined pressure of my shields bashing away, and whatever the heck the slipfold was made of, overcame its raw strength.

The fold as it finally closed, had sliced through its fingers and as it cut into its neck, my shields had angrily swung in and kill-stealed by dealing an executioner's strike.

I’d struggled to stay sane and alive as I died whilst the mass drain effect ripped the flesh bone and tissue of the corrupted’s skull and reconstructed the throat it had ripped out along with every single scratch or internal wound I had incurred.

Back in reality I looked up and stared into the different coloured eyes of the moth girl. She had returned to her original young self - the mirage in the dream had looked much more mature - she was covered in dirt and dry blood on her face with light pink streaks running down each cheek and she gave off a strong scent of sickly sweet sweat.

She was heavily breathing, shaking like a leaf, eyes not daring to look into mine.

I became acutely aware that she was straddled on top of me.

"W-what are you doing?" I croaked.

I realised I was naked.

"WOAH! OKAY YOU NEED TO GET THE FUCK OFF RIGHT NOW!" I bellowed, enraged as I started to connect dots and come to some disturbing assumptions.

At my shouting the girl cried out with a harmonic rattle voice and pressed her head close against my chest, clutching onto me sobbing, making alien sounds I'd never heard before.

"pLEASE ### dON't ### HurT ### mE! ### doN'T ### lEAVE ### Don't ### WANt ### die! ###"

I grabbed her shoulders angrily, making her wail again. But I steadied myself, softening my grip as I peered down and saw that her legs were still horrifically bent in the wrong, painful directions, the skin was patchy with terrible puffy green, yellow and black bruising.

We can’t have been here long then. Else she would have healed up by now or died from the obvious gangrene surely?

She was in a really bad state. And although I felt shattered mentally, physically I felt healthy with not a single pang of pain.

For fuck sakes.. What the hell is going on?

"Agh. Look. I'm not going to hurt you or leave you in your, uhh, condition. You need to explain what the hell is going on, but I have a wife and kid that I need to get back to, so I really need to put some clothes on and think about what to do next."

She let out a rattling gasp, and lifted her head up and searched my eyes.

"yoU ### heAr ### mE? ### liNK ### gonE ### hoW?"

Her mouth hadn't moved but her words echoed around, reverberating inside my ears.

"Oooo-kay I don't really know how you are doing that orwhat you mean but please, let me get up and get some clothes on."

She wiped her face and gingerly loosened her grip, which I hadn't noticed was painful until she let up, what with her having claws and all. There was a pause whilst I waited for her to get off.

She lowered her eyes with shame and guilt.

"plEase ### caRry? ### leGs ### broKEn .."

Oops, I nodded and gently lifted her feather light frame up and placed her down next to me, onto a soft pile of blankets.

Now that I was free, I finally had a chance to look around. It was very dark except for a small glowing ball with.. Rainbow.. Huh, guess that's my EXP well orb. Wow it is nice, great nightlight.

…

I shuddered at the remnants of the memories that had infiltrated my mind, my soul.. I had loved a daughter that didn't exist..and..Other things.

But fortunately they were dissolving fast and becoming nothing more than stories and fiction, holding less and less emotional strength. That.. Hurts, still.. Goodbye little bug, sleep well. I pushed down the dull ache in my chest and focused.

From what I could quickly gather, the rest of the large room was pretty bare and empty. There were a few piles of unknown materials and a big old wardrobe, but other than that, the middle of the room was just a pile of soft blankets, cushions and sheets.

I spotted my pack and a dark pile next to it and let out a sigh.

What a weird mess this is..

I glanced at the girl who had been nervously eyeing me. She made a show of ducking her head down and staring at the ground in response, whimpering as the motion put pressure on her legs causing her pain.

Which made me feel bloody awful.

Even though there was a chance that she had sexually assaulted me, seeing her so beaten up, frightened and non threatening, just made me feel sorry for her. Even if she is a moth..girl. She’s still just a girl.

Alright, first things first, clothes. Then we’ll figure out

Grabbing my clothes, which were in a pretty gross state, especially my top wear. After pausing for a moment wondering if it was appropriate or not, I decided to just use the boxers and put bottoms on, making a mental note to find fresh stuff sharpish.

Besides, it's not like she hasn't seen me starkers anyways. I think it will be fine if I go topless for a bit.

"Oooo-kay. So, uhh, firstly, how are you talking to me.."

We talked directly to my ears in broken words for a bit, all the while keeping her gaze on the ground, as she explained that this was our "souls talking."

Which I translated to some kind of telepathy, or mind Majik.

So from what I understood, it had only been 12 hours and we were in her ‘nest’ and, as soon as I'd regenerated, she panicked and cast her ‘soul control’ spell on me, getting me to carry her back here as quickly as possible, and then from here she panicked further and tried to pair our souls? It sounded like a euphemism but the telepathy barrier was making it difficult to fully understand.

She was very confused as to how I could hear her and she emphasised her confusion when I told her I heard her cries for help before the fight.

When I told her it was hard to understand her, she glanced up at me confused, then awkwardly went wide eyed and shoved her head back down, making me frown.

"muSt ### strengthEn ### conneCtion ###"

"You know, you don't need to stare at the ground all the time, and how do we do that?" I asked.

" I ### …. ### comE ### cloSe ### … ### … ### pleaSe ###"

She kept her gaze down still, but gingerly patted next to her.

I paused for a moment and pondered if that was a good idea.

She could have ended me in my trance, she obviously needs my help to survive. I don't think she's a bad moth girl, just a really ‘desperate-to-survive’ one.

"Okay. I'm coming over. But I'm going to be really mad if I wake up with no clothes on again! or if you try to kill me." It was a silly joke but she made a whimpering sound and nodded quickly, instantly making me feel like the jerk in the situation.

I walked over and sat next to her cross legged. She didn't look up but slowly moved her trembling clawed hand over towards mine. Painfully slowly.

Patiently I waited but then impatiently moved my hand closer to hers, hoping to speed this up.

She winced but grasped my hand and brought it up to her shoulder and placed it down, pulling me a bit closer in the process. Then she pointed to my forehead then pointed to her own.

So I waited.

She did it again.

And I waited some more.

"ouR ### … ### heAds ### toUch ### pleAse?"

Oh. OH! Ha. Of course. It would make sense that making a connection between two minds would need to be close.

Chuckling, I leant forward and put my forehead on hers, her breathing surprisingly slowed down when I did and she placed her claws on my shoulder.

Nothing happened at first but then a message popped up.

Skill share VoMP received.

Accept?

Called it. Yes.

Private Connection Request- [Siya]

Accept?

Wow. Siya huh? Okay um.. Yes.

My hearing popped and whined, as if one of my hearing receptors had died. But afterwards, I had her image imprinted in my memories with the knowledge that I could communicate, not quite telepathically, but a strange mental voice type of thing.

VoIP or rather Voice over Mind Protocol. VoMP huehue…. Yup, I’m still a nerd.

Link established - [Siya]

#Godu# Testing, testing. Woah, uhh hello?

#Siya# Hello. Godu. Thank you so much for accepting. I hope this feels comfortable for you.

She carefully let go of me and leaned back, but I was astounded at the clarity and the simple fact I was speaking with my mind!

#Godu# This is incredible! Oh sorry, forgot my hand was on your shoulder. But yes this is super clear.

I let go and she slumped, her pained breathing quickening again.

#Godu# Are you, okay? You must be in a lot of pain. We need to get that sorted first and then I'll bombard you with questions.

She let out a rattling moan and shook her head, her shoulders shook with sobs.

#Siya# Why… are you staying? I violated your soul. Even after you saved my life. Why are you… kind to me?

It was a good question, but fairly easy to answer. Selfishly on my part, I wanted someone to talk to and I had so many questions for her. But aside from possibly being mentally violated, no real harm had been done that I knew of.

#Godu# Well, my gut tells me you are a good person, just trying to survive. You need my help and to be blunt, I'll need yours after.. and.. Well, honestly I really could do with a friend. I'm completely alone out here.

She peered up at me with light pink tears streaming down her face, disbelief written all over her face, but a glimmer of hope in her searching gaze.

For someone so alien, she acts so human..

This time she didn't break eye contact, making me awkwardly look away and half smile.

#Godu# Okay uhh I mean, I'll help you anyways. But after that I really would appreciate your help. If not, fair enough. But um-

#Siya# YES! I willingly offer my soul to you eternally. You are uncorrupted, even after consuming a broken soul of your kin. You are kind even after everything. Please, don't leave me to die and I will do anything for you.

#Godu# That sounds a bit extreme and heavy..but, sure! Sounds good, friends for life!

I smiled warmly. Marri is going to kill me…actually, she'll probably just laugh at me…

Confirmation received.

Huh.

S.O.U.L keys exchanged.

Wait a second.

Soulsync() commencing.

I saw her smile with misty relief filled eyes.

#Siya# Thank you. Thank you. Thank you! I will never leave you.

What the heck is happening??

#Godu# W-what did we just do-

My head snapped back and I clutched my head as a surge of emotions and pain coursed through. It was raw anguish and hurt

This is all hers.. My god, the poor thing.

I could feel the agony throbbing in her broken legs and the terrible phantom limb pain from her missing wing.

There was something else as well, a hopefulness of belonging again, overshadowed by a past rejection and abandonment. She had once been part of a family, but they had cast her out?

Bound frame heavily damaged. Transfer unbound EXP to initiate regeneration?

Well uhh shit, yes. Yes, of course.

My veins rose painfully in my skin, azure black and blue shimmering EXP burst out and arced over towards Siyas wide eyed face. It orbited her before travelling down, turning into a slurry of pink and blue as it did, before reaching the legs and slamming into the skin.

She wailed with inhuman octaves and vibrations, and I winced as I watched her legs crack back into place, chunks of black looking muck being pushed out of wounds that were sealing up.

I did have my own problems though. Sweat had started beading, my skin felt like an inferno, I wanted to vomit and overall I felt like I was coming down with an accelerated flu.

All I could do was sit there, enduring my pain and her wailing, until finally it stopped and she was left panting heavily, covered in a sheet of sweat, but with a newly fixed pair of legs.

Regeneration procedure complete.

Ability acyclic graph pairing complete.

Attribute cipher sharing complete.

#Godu# Are… you ok?

She was propping herself up on her side, back towards me, in an uncanny accidental recreation of when she had been trying to seduce me in the illusion. She was wearing a top but I didn't think she was wearing any pants… I rubbed my eyes and shook my head.. Grr, better not be fucking with my head.. No I'm.. I'm just not feeling well.

She flexed her bare legs for a few seconds and trilled. Jumping up and spinning around and around. On her thigh and near her knee, there seemed to be strange scar fractures that looked like cracked porcelain, but I didn't get a chance to get a good look as she pounced towards me and gave me a huge hug.

If I hadn't been feeling faint, I would have possibly reacted and attacked her, thinking she was attacking me, but I didn't, and instead I happily accepted it.

"Uff, ok, ok ukk carefully now, I'm.. not feeling too good."

She sniffed and nodded, but didn’t let go. I was rather concerned about what had just happened and what being soulbound actually meant, but there wasn’t much I could do about it now and the sickness feeling was getting worse, so just go with the flow I guess.

Being honest, the hug felt genuine, heartwarming and most importantly, real. And it made me really happy to be receiving something positive instead of violence and death.

Black spots, however, started to fill the edges of my vision and my muscles lost all strength. I slumped down onto the pile of covers, desperate to rest.

Siya still didn’t let go.

#Siya# You. I. Love. Forever. Thank you.

Before I could respond, my familiar old friend, 'unconsciousness' dropped in and said ‘sup’, and everything went black.