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4.confrontation

Xancore doesn't think it's time for me to know about it just yet.

-I have five abilities as well, and I know all of them; spirit binder, clairvoyance, energy channeling, fire binding, and the void trial.

Spirit binder allows me to talk to the souls of the dead.

Clairvoyance allows me to accurately predict outcomes of certain situations. Sometimes I can even predict the death date of people.

Energy channeling allows me to absorb certain energy from people, directly influencing their mood. This ability can evolve into me sucking their soul out, ending their life, however Sothpheria would only allow me to do so to truly ugly spirits.

Fire binding basically allows me to generate, annihilate, and/or control fire.

The void trial, my strongest one, allows me to send a person's soul into the void, where there is nothing with them but their memories. This ability has been designed for people who are good but have done bad before and could not get over it, because the only way to escape the void is to come to terms with and fully accept your past in order to move on with your future, facing your harshest judger, yourself.

-Wow, Jin, your abilities really revolve around death a lot it seems, except for the fire thing. Is there a particular reason?

-Of course there is, you see, Sothpheria is after all the communication spirit, and it does not only help humans communicate, but spirits too. Usually the cycle of reincarnation goes something like this; the four spirits decide on four people to live in for this lifetime, two to three generations pass, the holders die, reincarnation happens. However, that is not the case with Sothpheria. When the time for a new lifetime comes, Sothpheria gives her holder the choice between continuing to live or leaving with the rest, if they choose to leave, their soul will forever become a part of Sothperia's memory, and their life would be an example their next lives would look at and learn from. If they do choose to stay, their old body would die and their consciousness would be transferred to a body of a newborn, with their memory of who they were and what they did fully preserved, but they will not have free will in their lifetime, they will be bound by certain moral laws, and if they break any they will live an eternity in a place called "the Labyrinth of Fright".

-What do you mean by moral laws?

-For example, in my previous life, I had what you may call anger issues, so I used to snap at people in the heat of the moment quite a lot, holding Sothperia helped me justify my cockiness. As a boundary for me in this life, I am not allowed to display immense hostility or anger towards anyone, I am literally prohibited from showing wrath.

-Wow, so you don't fully have free will?

-That's correct.

-Being a Sothperia holder must be so tiring, you're not even allowed to slip.

-Being a holder is tiring no matter who your spirit is, we all suffer somehow.

-That's true.

-Have you talked to the Zelta holder?

-Flynn? No, not yet. We don't exactly get along, I will be talking to him eventually, but I just need some time.

-Opal, in times like this you need to focus out of your small little life and look at the bigger picture, you are an entity that will be existing for a few blinks of an eye on a floating rock in an endlessly expanding universe, and little fights and nitpicks do not matter as much as building a healthy relationship with your dear holder and helping each other grow and make the world a slightly better place to live in. Talk to Flynn, it is not as bad as you're thinking it would be, I promise you.

-I'll try, I promise.

...

As the day ended and everyone was heading back home, Opal went up to Flynn and stopped him in his tracks. They both looked at each other in silence, words felt too heavy to be pronounced, so it took them some time to mutter. Opal said "there's a conversation we need to have

-f**k off, I'm not talking to you" replied Flynn, pushing Opal over and walking away.

"You can't run forever, Flynn, you just figured out your truth, I've known mine for eight years already, without me you'll be lost, it will take you decades to master what I can teach you in months. Our life paths are meant to cross whether you're ready to accept it or not, you're meant to be partners with the non athletic homo loner"

Flynn kept walking so Opal knew he needed to touch his soul with a few poignant words, and being the eloquent person he is, he knew exactly what to say.

"Go back home to your mom and dad fighting with each other like some wild animals, I'm sure that'll be more pleasant than staying with me for a few minutes, and drown in music and in those pills you call your best friends until you can't process reality anymore, until you escape."

Flynn got triggered by what Opal said, and it made him furious, he turned back and came at Opal with a powerful punch that knocked him to the ground leaving him with a bloody nose.

The punch didn't hurt Opal as much as the act of punching did, he stayed in the ground and silent tears cooled down his face, Flynn grabbed Opal's cheeks with his hands, looked at him dead in the eyes and said "don't you ever, dare bring up that topic again" then he violently pushed his head away and left.

As he was walking back home, guilt started hovering over him, sure Opal's words were triggering but his reaction felt a bit over exaggerated, especially seeing the blood on his face and tears streaming down his eyes, he couldn't help but regret what he did. He did as Opal predicted, went to his stash of powder, even the gym wouldn't have been enough to make him forget about what happened today.

Opal reacted to the event too, differently; he refused to eat for the rest of the day and he even cut himself, which is something he's been trying to quit since he was twelve. The sharp razor sliding across his skin and that cold pain and rush of dopamine and accelerated heartbeats he feels whenever he hurts himself keep him addicted to it. Opal has never laid hands on anybody, he's always taken out his anger and frustration on himself.

As soon as Opal got back to his room from the bathroom, igby felt something was off.

"Opal, did you do what I think you did?

-Oh no don't worry igby, I look beaten because Flynn hurt me today, I didn't do anything to myself.

-Care to tell me about it?

-I wanted to talk to him about his magic, he refused, so I brought up his parental situation, he hit me.

-You had it coming. How dare you bring up people's traumas, it's like sprinkling salt on an open wound, a very open wound.

-That's true. I was just desperate to get his attention I thought provoking him would be my best bet.

(Xancore) -You could've went about it in other ways, Opal. Zelta has chosen to embody Flynn because he is like her when it comes to feeling, he may look unbothered on the outside but inside he is melting, bad words said to him feel like lava burning through his skin, provoking him would only make him angry or sad, it will never get him to join your side.

-What do I do now?