The Astral soul system-Chapter 199: Ritual... failed?

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Time passed

How much? Hard to say.

The light from the crystals seemed to dim as they didn’t sense the catalyst and the sheen from his wings started to fade.

The world... sighed...or moped. As if it was... disappointed?

The shadow visible in the tear in space slowly pulled back and the lights started to disappeared.

Aurora who was watching it all started to step closer,her eyes wide.

What just happened? Did they just...kill themselves?

No. They wouldn’t.... right?

She wanted to take another step closer when she heard a groan.

Without warning,A pillar of light similar to the beacon suddenly shot out of the tear, bathing the body in light.

The wings suddenly retracted, dropping to his sides gently as they started to light up again.

"Uh..."

Following that sound, the ritual suddenly stopped dimming and the shadow could once again be seen at the tear.

A pair of eyes opened. Right mutated,left black similar to Zen’s, but instead of looking like a dark featureless void, this was... different "

It was hard to describe but stars could be seen in his eyes. Something Zen lacked was present. Life,no matter how fickle.

Theia was completely drowned in messages as the system came back. Everything was going haywire and nothing was usable but there was one thing she could see.

[Status]

[Name: Azrael]

[Fate: Hecate]

His eyes opened fully, looking up into the pillar of light that was surrounding him.

"Hey! Get up. Get up! We’re almost there"

He winced but listened to Theia straightening his back.

"There you are"

Looking up towards the sky, Azrael groaned. He couldn’t even see what he was looking at because of the shadow field but he felt something familiar about it.

He slowly looked down to see a girl laid on the ground. Dead and cold.

"Who is this?"

He suddenly felt a sting in his mind and the girl on the ground suddenly flickered rapidly, before being replaced by a younger girl with red hair.

"Rio...?"

He clutched his head as she kept switching back and forth. His mind was splintering, caught between his whole life and fragmented ones, but he could tell one thing. He didn’t want this girl to die. Or stay dead.

He looked up at the pile of blood floating with stardust and his feathers and with a thought he started to make it swirl and mix. The energy from the crystals immediately reacted, becoming more intense until the mass itself could barely be seen.

"The codex is half complete. You’re doing it!. Now focus it on her"

He could see something forming in the light but was unable to tell what it was.

A thin beam of light suddenly shot out of whatever it was into his chest before another shot through the crystal on Jade’s chest and into her heart.

The pillar of light bathing Azrael suddenly widened until it now fit both him and Jade.

Slowly they both started lifting into the air towards the codex that was forming in the codex,both glowing brightly.

In front of his eyes he saw a pair of brilliant ethereal golden wings appear on Jade’s back.

"This child . A special soul. She is worthy"

"Quickly. Pick a name for Jade, quickly"

"Name?"

"Yes. The codex will have a name, as well as all those who draw from it. A name recognized only by the chosen. It has to be something special. Something with meaning. It can be any name but it must be thoughtful. It’s the last step. Once you pick a name, she will recieve her gifts "

"Name..."

Azrael looked up at her and memories flashed within his mind.

He whispered something and a hum was released from the earth, almost as if it could hear and approved.

She suddenly lit up even brighter,so bright even Aurora who was watching had to look away as she released her own massive pillar of light into the sky.

The wings on her back disappeared as she slowly dropped back to the ground.

Azrael groaned. He felt like something had been ripped out from his very essence as he picked that name. The hallucinations were getting worse as he felt himself weakening

"Almost done. Now you just need to -"

Azrael suddenly yelled, grabbing his head tightly.

"W-what is it? What’s wrong?"

He suddenly started squeezing around his neck

"It burns!"

Theia looked and could see some strange item around his neck, tightening around it while releasing some strange energy.

"Calm down! We just need to -"

"mAkE iT sTOp!"

Theia froze. Those were the voices of Zen, Zyro and Zaine.

She quickly looked at the system screen and saw the name "Azrael" slowly flicker in and out like it was about to disappear.

Right now his mind was a jumbled mess being held together by the item around his neck, but even then it was like patching a half destroyed mug with duct tape and throwing it into a microwave.

His soul was still splintering, and the individual pieces hadn’t healed enough to be put back together.

This wouldn’t last.

"Quickly, just name the codex. It’s the only way to finish everythi-"

Before she could finish, the chains generated by the item around his neck snapped, and so did he, falling to the ground like a broken doll.

"No! We were so..."

The light suddenly began to dim as the crystals all turned to dust. As the lights disappeared,a single shimmering item could be seen in the sky, slowly lowering as all the strange phenomena disappeared.

"What? But... how -"

"Focus you stupid machine. We need to get him out of here now! That woman will kill him in his slumber"

Zephyr spoke harshly but managed to snap her out of it.

The two quickly made up a solution. He was still dressed in his Arcade suit .They had to find a way to get him out. Zephyr was not about to let him die, he was far too useful for that yet.

As the ritual ended and the shadow field fell, retracting towards the body,it suddenly stopped and instead of disappearing it spread on the ground around him, slowly dropping the body through it and into the shadow realm.

***************

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He suddenly looked around. Everything was dark, and foggy.

He stood up and looked around cautiously

"Where am I?"

He looked down at his hands

"Who am I?"

He asked himself but he couldn’t find the answer to that question.

He suddenly started walking. He wasn’t sure why but it felt like the right thing to do.

He walked and walked for an unknown period of time before he suddenly saw something in the fog.

A light.

He took a step back ,a bit startled but didn’t run.

He looked closer and saw the floating light slowly descend until it was eye level with him.

"W-what are you?"

He asked. Shook

The light flickered a bit. He didn’t know why but he got the feeling it was amused.

It suddenly started taking on a humanoid shape and in a few seconds it stood before him,a perfect replica of his own image.

He took another step back again but his copy didn’t let him and took his hand instead, holding it tight, their fingers entwining.

They both looked at their hands together before back at each other.

"I’m you, silly"

His copy said with a smile .

Before they could react a shadow suddenly appeared in the dark land and he suddenly flinched back, startled.

The copy looked at him but didn’t let him run

"Come on. Let’s go"

He looked up at the massive structure that felt like it was alive. He couldn’t see it’s features but he could tell it was some sort of building.

"Go?"

"Go home"

A pair of massive glowing eyes suddenly appeared above them, staring coldly at them.

He instinctively leaned towards the copy that called itself him and it held him close as well as they both stared up at the pair of eyes.

"What’s that?"

"I don’t know"

**************

Zen suddenly breathed deeply, coughing as his eyes opened.

He was in human form, and in an unfamiliar place.

He looked around cautiously before Theia suddenly popped up in front of him

"Relax big guy, you’re safe, and you’re not dead. This is the shadow realm"

Zen calmed down as he heard that

"It looks different"

"Yeah, because we’re not traveling right now"

Right now it was just pitch black darkness everywhere.

"How long have we been unconscious."

Zaine asked. Him and Zyro had woken up about the same time Zen had. He’d woken up in the body because he was last on the throne.

"No time at all."

Zephyr spoke

"Stop trying to be mysterious, pervert god. You’re not cool"

She sneered, rolling her eyes before answering Zen.

"About two days "

"..."

Zen didn’t really react. It was more than he expected. But in good news, it seemed it didn’t cost energy to stay in the shadow realm.

"Luckily this realm has time dilation. About twenty to one,so on the outside, not long has passed "

Theia’s jaw dropped,it seemed she hadn’t known that.

"Pervert god! Why didn’t you tell me that? And why didn’t i see i in the skill description"

She said opening the system interface

Laughing smugly, Zephyr replied.

"I assumed you’d have figured it out. Besides, don’t bother looking. Remember? Ever since the integration, this is as much my system as it is yours "

The two immediately got to bickering so Zen just stood there and waited for them to finish.

"Boys!"

He suddenly heard Freya’s voice

"You’re okay "

Lilith followed but she sounded less thrilled.

Sylphie didn’t say anything but that was in character for the wind spirit.

"i was so worried about you. When that weird ritual started everything suddenly went dark and we couldn’t see you "

Zen remembered Theia saying that souls weren’t allowed to interfere in rituals unless they were to be used as tribute.

She gave Zyro a hug and was about to give Zaine one when he glared at her and threatened to flay her skin

"They grow up so fast "

Was all she could say

Theia looked like she was about to explode but she finally ignored Zephyr.

"So how do you feel?"

Zen shrugged.

"Okay? I feel... different "

"I see..."

"Just tell him"

Zephyr said impatiently.

"I’m getting to it!"

Zen tilted his head but Theia just laughed it off.

"Forget him. Did anything interesting happen? Any visions or..."

"...I think i had a dream?"

"Oooh...do tell"

"There was...a boy. He called himself me. That’s all I remember "

Theia nodded with a smile, seeming happy.

"That was your codex"

"I thought a codex was a book "

Jade shook her head

"Not this one "

Zen tried to open his stats to see what was going on but was surprised when he couldn’t.

Theia’s smile cracked, seeming more forced.

"Tell him"

Zephyr said once again

Theia chuckled nervously.

"Did something happen?"

"Um... yeah,you can say that?"

She said, thinking of other ways to stall.

"Theia?"

"Hmm?"

She answered, looking "Innocently" at him.

"Open my stats"

"Okay "

She replied, unable to deny a direct order

As soon as the stat screen opened, Zen froze a little, staring at it.

If he felt emotions, he’d be experiencing shock right now.

"What..."