Vol.4 Ch.51 – Reborn I

Chapter 51: Reborn I

Elaine had expected to be expelled from Abigail's mind right after pulling her off that cross but she didn't. Instead she held the girl against her body, still staring at Apollo.

“I admit,” Apollo finally said, “I should have believed in you from the start.”

“Who even are you?” Abigail asked, still leaning against Elaine.

“That's Apollo,” Elaine said. “Your Soul Shard.”

Apollo bowed with a little flourish.

“So... you're not just a source of energy inside me,” Abigail said.

“Indeed,” he said. “And now that your Awakener has saved you from a disastrous fate I think it's about time we have a chat.”

Abigail looked up at Elaine, as if worried she would leave, but Elaine had no intention of doing so.

Apollo looked at both of them, then nodded and waved a hand, creating a table with three chairs out of thin air before sitting down.

“The first thing I'd like to know,” Elaine said once Abigail and her had sat down, “is how it feels to be a Soul Shard of a Shard Bearer. Does it cause you pain when Abigail levels up and draws on your power?”

“Ah,” Apollo said, “excellent question. I was worried about that as well when she first became part of this project but the answer is no. When she levels up she draws on my power, exhausting my reserves. But just like a soul regenerates, so does a Soul Shard. There might be a problem if she levels up too rapidly but she never even came close to that. Although I will admit that I have no idea how her leveling is going to work now that she is becoming a Lacrima.”

“So it actually worked?” Abigail asked.

“Indeed,” he said, “she saved you. She stopped the blockage just in time. Your body will now undergo the necessary changes. Once you wake up you will have transcended humanity.”

Abigail sagged in relief, then turned to Elaine. “In that case I owe you more than I could possibly repay, as well as a huge apology.”

Elaine took a moment to compose herself. This was not a conversation she wanted to have right then. She was quite upset with how this had gone down and they would be having words about this but she wanted to make sure nothing would go wrong with the Oath before she had that conversation. And so what she said right then was: “You're welcome.” Then she turned back to Apollo and asked: “Do we need to guide the flow of energy for her?”

“I've already been doing that since you helped her,” he said. “Everything is going smoothly. Too smoothly, almost.”

“Too smoothly?” Elaine asked.

“Aside from that little hiccup that almost cost her everything, her body is absorbing the power much more readily than anything I've ever seen. Whatever Stollos did with this system of Shard Bearers has made her a better conduit for the ritual.”

“It still didn't eliminate the risk of something going wrong though,” Elaine muttered darkly.

“True,” he said. “But she should never have taken the risk right then anyway.”

Abigail looked down, chastised. At least she didn't complain about being useless without the power anymore.

“So, you're my Soul Shard,” she said finally, after the silence had started being awkward. “You know everything about me.”

“I am and I do,” Apollo said. “I have been with you all your life and now I will be with you for all eternity.”

“And does it bother you to be bound to someone like me?”

“The last few years it did,” he said bluntly.

She flinched.

“You were radiant, utterly radiant. And you've been wasting away, hiding yourself away and drowning in gloom. I had almost forgotten how much I used to adore you until your Awakener went rummaging through your memories, trying to find something, anything, to save you.”

Abigail stayed silent.

“It is customary for a Soul Shard to test their bearer after a successful Oath of Crystal Tears,” he said, then looked at Elaine. “Has Typhon tested you?”

“He told me that, so long as I fight the tyrants who took over our world he'd be happy to lend me his strength,” Elaine replied truthfully.

“Yes, that sounds like him,” Apollo muttered, then looked at Abigail. “But that's not me. Promising to fight against the Invasion is not enough to earn my favor.”

“Then what do you want from me?” Abigail asked. She didn't sound scared, exactly, but resigned.

“I want to see the joy again that you used to have,” he said, his voice quite gentle. “The Nightingale who loved to perform, the one who wanted to bring joy and feel admired and desired, the one who got home from an evening of singing hopelessly aroused.”

She blushed. “I'll try.”

“Do more than try,” he said. “I will extend my trust for this mission. You can have full access to my powers during it. But in that time I want you to feel that joy again. Be the Nightingale once more. And once you come back from that mission, bring that joy back to the compound. Show them all the radiance I know you carry within yourself.”

“I understand,” she said.

“Then let us speak of what my powers can give you,” he said, then glanced at Elaine. He didn't outright say that he wanted her to leave but it was clear to her. And so she stood up to leave the two of them alone. And only when Abigail's eyes went wide did she remember that she was naked in this astral form. And even in this astral form she had Typhon's little gift between her legs.

“That...” Abigail stammered. “That...”

“Uh, surprise...?” Elaine said, trying not to feel self-conscious about it.

“How...? When...?”

“When I became an Awakener Typhon decided to alter my body a little to suit his tastes,” Elaine explained.

“That's a thing?” Abigail asked.

“If you want, I can let you grow one, too,” Apollo said, sounding just a little too casual about it.

“I-I'm good,” Abigail said, then took another glance at Elaine's little secret, almost as if she was sizing it up. Elaine was pretty sure that Rachel had taken on her scent and dick to fuck Abigail but she wasn't sure if Abigail had figured it out yet.

Elaine was about to turn to leave when Abigail said:

“Elaine? About what you said before you pulled me off that cross?”

She'd been very forward with Abigail, especially given that the two of them weren't involved at all. She was wondering if perhaps she'd gone a little too far before Abigail said:

“When I wake up, can... can you talk to me like that again?”

It was ridiculous that Elaine would feel the need to swallow around a lump in her throat while in an astral body but even so she did. “Of course.”