#zu'miru

The older of the women spoke, eyes blazing with the fire of her inner nature as she snarled, “Why the hell are you doing this?!  It’ll kill you, you know that right?  It’ll destroy you!”

"Maybe it will, maybe its a slow, lingering death. Maybe we're all sliding towards oblivion now that the source of life is dead."

"Aren't you a ray of sun"

The silent cry echoed in four minds at once, though only one would understand the nature of that call. He would race arrow-straight and swift to the side of the one who summoned, but even as he went he knew he could not make it.

"Find me!"

The call burrowed deep into three souls, calling to something asleep within them, fear ringing out clear in the silent plea--the fear of battle, of fighting for one's life. Of losing that fight.

"Help me!"

Bringing three uncomprehending souls to their knees it sought something from them, a desperate plea drowning in blood and the terror of facing Death: of knowing oneself beaten in the face of a foe who holds all advantages.

"Save me!"

One last wrenching crying ringing in four minds, burning with despair and terror and then a violent silencing, leaving behind only the memory of it undercut with the faintest sensation of Wrongness, like the first hint of rot beneath the flavor of food.

The one who heard and understood, arrived only to witness the final blow--a blazing axe cloaked in hellfire buried into the bloodied chest of one who was both master and friend. He was too late to do more than seize that which held the other's soul before it could be destroyed--or, worse, poisoned with the taint of demons. (He was already too late, but he wouldn't know that. Not until hundreds of lives were lost to that unnatural rage and hatred.)

Might not be coherent bc v tired and half formed and all

• Souls created at birth

• Power beings to be formed early but is tied in w/ parent

• Magic transmitted via family blood

• Can be dormant but need at least one magic ancestor to have

• Most population has by now bc Reasons

• In case of miscarriage or stillbirth no soul generated

• How it works is the soul of pregnant parent sustaind body/power

• The severing of connection--either thru unaided birth or surgical--causes the "spark" with the severity of tie to parent's soul

• Usually is enough to generate new soul

• Sometimes fails for reasons unknown, these result in death (usually it's an invisible, underlying condition that caused the body to be unable to sustain life, they got medical learning but it's nowhere near what modern world has and all)

• If they have magic and no soul power dissipates bc soul holds it together w/ life essence in body

• World Spirit entered into empty vessel at moment of spark causing it to become soul of human body--thats how MC born

Like as a person with a lot of long-lived and immortal characters sometimes you go "oh, wait, this doesn't work with the timescale normal humans operate on due to their lifespans. Well fuck."

"...I don't know. I... I didn't even know what it would do to him... I know, I know he's de--gone. He's gone. I know."

"Whoa, easy there. Its... well, not okay but we've got you, the rest of us are still here."

"...But so is he. That's stupid. He's dea--gone. He di--left, he left us. Left me. But it... Feels like a part of me can still feel him, you know? Like maybe some fragment of him is still out there, holding together... And maybe if I don't forget him, if I keep him close, someday he can find his way back..."

"...You know even if he somehow did the impossible it wouldn't really be him, right? Whoever made it back might not even remember you."

"No. It would be him. A different him, but him. His name, his face, his memories, even some of his personality might be different. But deep inside there isn't a true way to replicate the raw nature of a person. That would stay the same. We... We could start again, fresh start, from... From the ground up. I would be--that would--no, it wouldn't be okay... But I could live with that. Because... without him... Part of me is missing."

"I know, we all feel it, he meant a lot to so many..."

"No, no--literally. We... Its complicated. Our fates are tied. That's... It's what gives me hope there's still some small spark of him left, and that we aren't all careening towards oblivion."

"...So that's what the connection is. You really are tied by the soul to each other. There was some joking, but... I guess the legends are true. Well, then I'll help."

"Huh?"

"Well, with more people keeping his memory alive and fresh, maybe it'll be a brighter beacon for whatever fragments of him are left. I know the dork wasn't big on the praise and worship crap, but he pulled the impossible off twice now. The people always need heroes and you don't get a better one that that. He won't be forgotten. And I'll make sure the right stuff is spread around, not the ridiculous tall tales."

"...Thank you, Tamra. It... Means a lot to me."

"We didn't have what you two did, Z, but he was a good friend to me, too. I couldnt forget his dumb ass if I tried, if I'm honest."

"Hey!"

"Well, you can't deny he wasn't always bright."

"He didn't have to be to save the world."

“...Okay?  Sure?”

Grabbing the blue-green-clad young man, Tamra dragged him out of hearing range for a moment.

“So.  Mind explaining’ how in the ever-loving fuck a mortal human has the Soul Armament of the fucking heart of the world?”

“...It’s a long story involving an asshole, a murder, and an intentionally incomplete restoration?”

“...What the fuck.”

“I told you it’s a long story...”

Looking over her shoulder at the young man discussing something with a shard merchant (about the flameshards, apparently, from the looks of where he’s pointing, she noted) she narrowed her eyes.  Silence grew for a few moments before she turned to face her cowering companion.

“...You owe me the whole story but until then I’ll trust your judgement.  But you’re damn lucky so few people even know what those look like.”

“...Honestly, I didn’t think anybody had ever gotten a good enough look to tell...”

“You’d be surprised what people pick up on, bubble-boy”

“HEY!  I told you not to call me that!”