Chapter 218: No Time Like the Present

Chapter 218: No Time Like the Present

There and Back Again, by Bilbo Baggins.

Tolkien

When? I asked

No time the present, Kyrus replied

Okay, how do we do this? I asked just for clarification before we jumped off into the unknown. I wanted to know if it was possible, but was it worth the risk?

Simple enough. He said. I felt the skill activating and saw his physical representation float off over the sea, angling up to shoot into the sky to one of the stars that represented Namir floating overhead.

I followed along.

Ding! Astral Projection (Lv2)

I soon joined him floating outside of Namirs soul. Now what?

Next, we need to go a little further. He replied. It was the understatement of the year if ever Id heard one. But there is something I wanted to double-check first. Close your eyes.

I closed my metaphysical eyes. Kyrus then spun my astral projection around horizontally and vertically until I had completely lost all sense of what was left or right or up or down before finally stopping me. Okay, without opening your eyes, point back to our mortal vessel, our body. He commanded.

Even with my eyes closed, it was easy to point back to where my body, mind and soul rested. An invisible bond pulled me back towards my mortal vessel to my heart. I opened my eyes to check, and sure enough, I was pointing back towards the world that made up my soul. My mind fortress sitting proudly atop its mountain in the sea of experience I had earned over my short lifetime here in the Compass Kingdoms.

Ding! Sense Soul (Lv2)

Yes, we said together in success. I was gratified at the systems recognition of our progress.

Right. Next, close your eyes and search for a similar tug, a similar pull on our soul. He quietly commanded. Ill do the same with my eyes closed as well.

Floating in the ether between souls together, we closed our eyes and searched for a soul with a similar tug. The individual that our lives had overlapped with for the longest time. The woman whose very soul had unknowingly sheltered our own when we first arrived scared and confused. The woman who welcomed us into this world, our mother.

It wasnt the same frequency nor the pull as strong, but I could feel it: a string that tied my heart to anothers, a string that tied our two souls together, that bound us to our mother despite the distance.

Convinced, I said, Ive found her. and opened my eyes to find Kyrus pointing in the same direction. In reality, it would have been south, but in the soul realm, it was merely another vector we somehow knew would end up arriving at our mothers soul.

Besides, was it truly south if you considered the earths curvature? Would the soul stop at the lodestone or bore straight through it? How did you measure every vector in a sphere? It was so much simpler thinking about the 360 degrees on a compass face.

Ready to risk the jump? He asked.

I nodded. I was not wholly convinced, but I missed them, I missed my family, and I wanted them to know I was well as much as I wanted to see that they were okay, too.

Ready to go home if only to be a fly on the outer wall of her soul. He confirmed as he motioned to the soul of Namir, who we still stood next to, floating in the void between soul stars.

We launched ourselves along the vector together. The star-studded sky of souls elongated to flash past us as we flew to our destination almost instantaneously. As I bathed in the warmth of my mothers soul, I knew I was home in spirit. Even if I was not home in mind or body, I was home in terms of my soul. Comforted, I relaxed in the warmth of her presence. How long had it been since I had a good hug? Namir was not one for casual touch, and now I found myself curled up tight against the warmth of my mothers soul.

Ding! Astral Projection (Lv3)

It reminded me of when I had first arrived, confused and alone but still somehow feeling protected and held. Alone no longer . . .

I paused quickly, surveying my surroundings. I was alone. Kyrus had not made the jump. He might have left with me, but he had not arrived.

Frightened, I quickly felt for my mortal vessel but found the vector home still as strong as I had left it. I could make it back; distance did not seem to matter too much to the soul. I was sure I could make it. But where my clone had disappeared to, I knew not. Hopefully, I would find him where I left him when I returned. But I wasnt quite ready to do that just yet.

There was something I needed to do first.

Slowly, I calmed, helped by feeling so close to my mother. I might be frustrated at times by her protection, but I always felt loved, and I had grown to love her in return. How could I not? Hugging her soul tight, I whispered. Im okay.

I watched as her soul shone, hopefully, a little brighter in response to my words.

My silence said more than a thousand words.

Kai! she reprimanded.

Yes, mother. I feel Im running out of Psi. Part excuse, part reality there was no such thing as a crackly call to end the line. Ill call back when I can. I finished the conversation but waited long enough to hear her final words.

I love you. She whispered. But the words sounded loud and clear in her mind.

I love you too, I replied before jumping back along the vector to my vessel.

. . .

When I returned, I needed to check a couple of things. I hadnt been lying when I said I could feel myself running out of Psi. My reserves were exceedingly low, with only 550 / 1770 Psi left. I had burned through over 1000 on that short, long-range telephone conversation, and unlike my mana, I did not have a trait to reproduce it rapidly.

But this was not the first thing that I checked.

Once I had returned to my soul, I searched my soul and mind fortress for any of my multiple minds and found them all absent. A short activation and deactivation of the skill showed they were all still available, but something about sending my soul via astral projection halfway around the world had cut the skill straight off.

With the activation and deactivation of the skill, I could remember working on different things only to have my memories abruptly end as I jumped from just outside my soul to where my mother resided in the soulscape with Kyrus.

We concluded that up to four multiple minds could act independently within my mind, soul and even just outside. But jump too far, and my soul would only support a single consciousness. Maybe in time, I would work out a workaround, but for now, it was enough to be able to talk to home. However, how would I let Namir know that I knew they were all okay and they knew the same about us? I did not know, seeing as we were surrounded by admittedly friendly giants but stranger giants nonetheless.

Doh. I thought to myself.

A moment later, I was speeding across the soul space to knock on Namirs soul and using my mental skills to talk in his mind.

May you always walk in the light, Namir. I intoned. As I spoke to Namir, I couldnt help but affect a deep voice. I wondered whether I could get him to believe in the divine.

What is it, Kai? He quizzed internally, clearly unimpressed with my efforts and failing to fall for them.

How did you know it was me? I asked.

Who else would it be? He sardonically replied.

God?

You are not a god. He replied unmoved.

I paused for a moment before moving on. Mother knows we are alive and will tell the others. I explained, breaking the radio silence despite failing to convince him of anything.

How? He asked in his head.

Same as this, I replied.

You can reach that far? He sounded amazed for the first time.

Yes? Was that a question, and if so, Id already answered it.

Impressive. He seemed to think for a second before giving me his own news. A message from Lady Acacia arrived asking that very question while you were asleep. He added.

A message? How? I asked, equally impressed that they had managed to contact us without my magic to do so.

A calston. The same stone that called me to tell me she had finally found a student for me. He replied. It is not the quickest of ways to get in contact.

You could have got in contact with them all this time? I sounded a little hurt, even to myself.

What would I have said? We didnt know where we were, whether or not we would make it back to the compass kingdoms or whether it was even possible. Until now, any hope I could have given them would have been false. Now, at least, we know roughly where we are and have a plan on how to get home.

Fair enough, I replied.

Time to wake up. He commented. Bjrn is pulling up. He added, and I noticed the sledge sliding to a stop.