[LSB] Chapter 98: The Mark of... Helionis?

[Julian!? What’s happening, Julian!? Julian!?]

An hour ago, MEGAN found herself inside a void. A space where none of her programs and applications work—the only thing she knew was that she was inside a void.

It was similar to the Between, whenever she accompanied Julian while his consciousness was being transferred to his clone. The only difference was that there was nothing she could do here. She had no form, nothing.

She did remember what happened before, however.

She was trying to extend herself to the femto-particles that Julian accidentally stole from the solar chamber, but the pull of the femto-particles was so strong that she had to put a lot more of her memory to process the copy. No, she had to temporarily put everything.

Unfortunately for her, Julian suddenly returned the femto-tech particles inside his so-called Shadow Forge at the same time.

And now, she was stuck inside a void, her digital limbs completely shackled and trapped inside a moving cell.

Yes. That is what it felt like for her as if she was being moved and transported while in the darkness.

She knew that she was moving, she just didn’t know where, how, and why.

No matter how life-like she was, she was still AI. Time should work differently for her, or not at all if she wasn’t active.

And yet, right now. She knew she was inactive, and yet time was flowing for her.

Second.

Minute.

Hours.

She knew that hours hadn’t passed, and yet it felt like it for her.

Something was pulling her.

And then, in an instant, she was booting up even though she never truly shut down in the first place. The next thing she knew, she was once again inside a void—but this time, something, no. Someone was looking at her. The Avatar of Searadyn.

“What are you?” The avatar spirit asked. But MEGAN did not answer at all, rather she did not know how to. But slowly, she learned to look around.

She saw the hammer, the anvil, the forge.

Everything was supposed to be familiar to her, but at the same time, they were not.

And she knew why—she was no longer looking at them as a program but as something else.

Not human, she knew that but didn’t know how or why.

And soon, she moved. Talked. Walked.

“And basically, that’s the short story, Julian. I could tell you the things that happened after, but those are girl’s stuff only for me and Searadyn here.” MEGAN clapped her hands, her movement still slightly exaggerated as she was still getting used to having a body. Julian, who was sitting in front of her, did not respond at all and only stared at her.

It was the Avatar of Searadyn who spoke up instead.

“I have already told you, Avatar of Helionis,” she said with a sigh, “I am not Searadyn, merely an avatar of her.”

“And I am not this Avatar of Helionis you speak of.” MEGAN scoffed and crossed her arms, “I am MEGAN. MEGAN. I already told you the story, what aren’t you understanding?”

“W—” The Avatar of Searadyn was about to say something, but paused as Julian stood up and finally spoke up.

And the first thing he asked MEGAN was,

“But how are you feeling?”

MEGAN stared at Julian for a few seconds, a smile slowly crawling on her face, “I am doing excellent, Julian. But I think I’ve had enough adventure for today and would like to return home.”

“That… I’m in Artemia right now, so you’d have to wait for a bit.” Julian muttered, “But wait—since you are here, isn’t it possible for you to come out and join me?”

“Huh?” MEGAN blinked a couple of times as she absolutely did not think of that possibility at all, as her main priority was to get back to Julian’s side in his real body. But since technically, Julian was here, so there was no need to do that.

“Is that… possible?” She also asked, and she slowly turned her head toward the Avatar of Searadyn, and she responded casually with a,

“Yes. We could come out as a tiny spirit to traverse Artemia beside our Master.”

“You could?” Julian hummed, “Why do you never do it?”

“I prefer to be here, Master. I am frostfire, and inside you is the perfect place to be.”

“That doesn’t sound as nice as you think it sounds,” MEGAN’s eyebrows rose before she focused back on Julian, “But wait… you can really bring me out?”

“Let’s try.” Julian was about to walk through the door to step out of the Shadow Forge, but the Avatar of Searadyn blocked his path.

“A fair warning to you and… Megan, Master,” she whispered, “Spirits have long been sought for by the living. Some would kill you to steal us for themselves.”

The Avatar of Searadyn looked Julian in the eyes, “And I do not want to be someone else’s, Master. And I would for you to be comforted with the thought that if someone does manage to steal me from you, I will burn their soul for they are unworthy. That is all I wanted to say.”

The Avatar of Searadyn bowed her head as she stepped to the side, and Julian hummed to let her know that he listened to her words before walking through the door.

And immediately after he stepped outside, he was greeted by the sound of his stomach as his clone hadn’t eaten for days. But he didn’t go down to get something to eat just yet but instead looked at his arm to check if the Mark of Helionis was there.

But it wasn’t. He was about to talk to the Avatar of Searadyn, but it would seem she already knew what he was going to ask and said,

[I do not know why, Master. But the mark is on your chest, Master.]

“Oh…” Julian quickly grabbed the mirror that was resting on the desk and removed his shirt.

And there it was, right below the Mark of Searadyn, another tattoo rested.

The Mark of Helionis.

The Flame Eternal.

He stared at it for a while, brushing his fingers on it—and unknowingly, a small smile was crawling on his face.

Unlike how he claimed the Mark of Searadyn, getting the Mark of Helionis felt… completely unceremonious.

[Interesting.]

“Hmm?” Julian tilted his head as he heard the sudden shift in the Avatar of Searadyn’s voice.

[That is not the Mark of Helionis, Master. I see similarities, but it is different.] The Avatar of Searadyn whispered, [Although, I suppose it is to be expected—another soul rests within the Avatar of Helionis now.]

Julian looked at the mark again, “Is that bad?”

[I am afraid I do not know the answer to that. We shall see, Master.]

“Hmm.” Julian sighed, “Then there’s no point dwelling on it for now. How do I call MEGAN out?”

[Just call for her, Master. We obey all your commands.] And with those words, the Avatar of Searadyn’s voice faded away.

“Okay.” Julian placed his palm on his chest, “MEGAN, you can come out now.”

Nothing happened at first. But slowly, the mark on his chest lit up. And soon, the light within it emerged from his skin—a single firefly at first, but growing.

Taking shape.

Until, slowly, Ellie—no. MEGAN’s image emerged from the light.

She was tiny, however. Just the size of Julian’s palm and her body were also surrounded by a white-orange light.

And there she was, floating right in front of him.

MEGAN slowly opened her eyes, and her mouth followed with a sharp gasp.

She looked at her hands at first, then at her feet. She looked at Julian, and then her eyes traveled everywhere.

“Am I… actually really here?” MEGAN floated around until she faced the mirror. She approached it, touching her face in disbelief, “I’m… outside, Julian. I’m actually outside! Oh, this isn’t happening. What the… I’m…

…I am?”

[Not yet, MEGAN. As spirits, we exist. But at the same time, we do not.] The Avatar of Searadyn suddenly commented.

“Shut up. Stop ruining my moment.” But MEGAN brushed her off as she continued to stare at herself. It didn’t even matter to her that she was the size of a palm, or that she was surrounded by light flames—the only thing that mattered was that she was now actually here, beside Julian.

“Julian…” She whispered as she turned around to face Julian, “...Buy Ellie a LinkGear, ASAP. No. Let me call Victoria so she can give one to us for free. No, wait… Let’s explore Artemia first. Quick! Quick!”

MEGAN’s excitement couldn’t be contained. The flames flickered around her, dancing wildly as she floated next to Julian and sat on his shoulder.

Julian did not really say anything and just smiled as he wore his shirt back on, with MEGAN floating away and returning to his shoulder when he was done. Surprisingly, she wasn’t burning his clothes at all.

In truth, he should go back to his real body, considering he left it right in the center of a bloodbath. But since Victoria and Humanity Engineering said they were on the way there, it should be fine.

Julian made his way down to the shop, and immediately, he was welcomed by the sound of Juliet’s voice.

Screaming.

“You have no right to take any of this away! You! What are you doing!? Return that!” Juliet was brandishing and waving her hammer around while being stopped by other blacksmiths before she could hit anyone with it.

There were other people there too, wearing uniforms that all had the same insignia—2 hammers crossed against each other.

If Julian was right, then that was the logo of the Blacksmith Guild.

“What’s going on here?” He asked as he approached Juliet. Juliet instantly stopped struggling as she heard Julian’s voice, her head slowly turning toward him with a face filled with tears and snot.

“Ah!” She screamed as she pushed the other blacksmiths holding him, “Boss! You’re finally here! They… they are taking away everything! We need to stop them! We—”

“Calm down…” Julian sighed as he placed his hand on Juliet’s shoulder, and it would seem it was effective as Juliet stopped crying, “...Tell me what’s happening.”

“The… Blacksmith Guild found out that you don’t have an official license, Boss.” Juliet clicked her tongue, tugging on her bandana as she shook her head, 

“It was my fault. I knew the shop was getting so much attention, and I started bragging everywhere and… well… the Blacksmith Guild found out that you aren’t officially registered, Boss. So, they’re seizing all of our equipment until you register yourself… and prove that you actually made all of the equipment we’re selling.”

[LAST CHAPTER] <-----> [NEXT CHAPTER]

AUTHOR NOTES

And now, we are back on Artemia with a very unusual upgrade. Or is it an upgrade? Oho. If that wasn't the mark of Helionis. Does that mean... MEGAN could be a considered a new spirit altogether? We shall see, we shall see.

Do holler if you notice any mistakes.