Shackles (2)

“So you heard him calling my name, isn’t that right?” Vrastos asked.

Valencia gulped, gritting her teeth.

“What do you want?”

Vrastos took a deep breath as the air around her chilled her skin.

“What do I want?” it wondered. It paced back and forth in front of Valencia. “I want freedom… I want a way out of this shackle that bound me to this kingdom…”

Valencia sharply gasped.

“Shackle? What are you talking about? You’re—”

“Someone bound me to you… Rare,” Vrastos said. Valencia paused. “I have never been bound by a vessel, then a descendant of his own vessel.”

She shook her head.

“Can’t you just leave if I leave?”

Vrastos laughed as it vanished—reappearing behind Valencia. It grabbed her head and forced her to look up.

“Leave? The moment you try to step out of the border, you will start feeling like your entire body is burning…” Vrastos explained. Valencia whimpered, imagining it. “Just like your mother, who tried to escape with you inside of her…”

Valencia held her breath as her chest tightened.

“W-What?” Her muscles tensed. “Wait… my chest started feeling like burning after you disappeared in that Magic Tower—”

“I see… then they must have marked it in case I do appear there. I have come recklessly,” it muttered.

“Reckless?”

“Something or someone is preventing me from leaving without permission… and because I am inside of you, I need you to find out.”

Valencia shoved its hand out of her cheeks. Her head fell, but she floated instead of hitting the ground.

“And why would I trust you?”

“You don’t need to… if you want another way out, that boy with Light is also another way out. Apparently, absorbing his aura also helped us touch the border,” Vrastos claimed. Then it giggled.

“How?” Valencia asked. She shook her head in confusion. “Does that mean… whatever is preventing us from leaving is ineffective against the Light Esper?”

Vrastos paused and pondered.

“What a sharp mind… that could be the answer.”

“Wait… wouldn’t you know if you were here longer than me?!” Valencia questioned harshly.

Vrastos froze, staring at her. A silence stretched between them as the dimension soon flickered with purple stars. Valencia looked around, mesmerized by the night that surrounded her.

“Heh… you’re quite a bold child. Speaking with a Cosmic entity like me, you’re unafraid now. What gives you the courage, vessel?”

Valencia bit her lower lip, glaring at it. Although the shadow covered its face, a faint greyness showed on the skin. Her eyes widened. A face?

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