Page 189 of A Soul to Touch

She was also too worn out to care anymore.

The face disappeared, only to coalesce while staring in her direction. “Why would you try to save him?”

“Because I cared about him,” she answered with a hiccup. “He was my friend.”

“And yet you have cursed him to a half-life,” he stated as the face disappeared. His hand waved sideways in its place. “Youhave kept his body alive and, in doing so, have fractured his soul into two.”

I knew it. I knew something was wrong.

“Why are you here?” Mayumi placed her hand on the pommel of her sword. “Don’t think I didn’t notice that you never answered my original question. If... if you plan to hurt him, I will fight you.”

Her plan was to kill him as painlessly as possible. Even if he was a zombie, she worried the sentient part of him was still there and would feel it if he were being tortured.

It was only in the silence that greeted her that she realised that the black cloud wasn’t actually empty. Within the centre of it, there was a white flame that was hidden until the slow swirl of the creature’s essence parted slightly.

Mayumi crept closer so she could intervene, but she had no idea how she was supposed to fight a being made of cloud.

“Hmm.” His chalky hand appeared before only the lower part of his face, so he could cup his jaw. “I came because I felt this little one die, and yet his soul did not come to me as it should have. I came to collect it and find out why.” The cloud stopped swirling and instead pulsated for a moment, almost like one’s shoulders might lift and fall on a sigh. “But like I said, I didn’t expect to see a human with him, nor one that has obviously been weeping. Are you sad that he is gone? Your soul appears to be withered within you. I only see this in humans who are experiencing intense levels of sorrow and pain.”

She could have lied, and perhaps if a human had asked her, she would have – but Mayumi saw no point in lying.

“Yes. I tried to save him because I wanted him to stay.”

The chalky face appeared, and she didn’t like the way he grinned. Not with the fact he had large, sharp fangs like that of the Demon King – almost curling inward and shark-like.

The cloud moved so swiftly that she didn’t even get the chance to step back when he was right in front of her. He smelt like nothing, and the cloud that passed over her cheek for just a second had no feeling to it. She only saw it pass over her eye before it settled backwards.

“I did not answer your question. I am Weldir,semidei Custos Tenebris.” A hand waved downwards with a swish before puffing away into cloud. “Or, to a human, Weldir, Warden of the Darkness.”

“Weldir? Why do I know that name?” she whispered with her eyes narrowing in thought. Then it clicked. “Weldir? As in Faunus’ father, the spirit of the void guy?”

The chuckle that came from him was warm. “Calling me the spirit of the void is the equivalent of me calling you the human of this clearing. It has no meaning. It is nothing more than a description.”

Well... how the hell was I supposed to know that?It’s all Faunus had really told her.

“But yes, in short, I am this Mavka’s father. Lindiwe and I have been awaiting his return.”

“Lindiwe-... who?” Mayumi asked.

“Their mother. They call her the Witch Owl, which is a fitting title for her, although I call her my mate.”

Two hands formed and went around her, and then yanked back as if he wanted to pull her forward. Nothing happened, and Mayumi didn’t feel anything. Yet, as the cloud fluttered backwards, she felt the desire to follow it and did so hesitantly.

When he floated too close to Faunus, who started growling at her closeness, she halted.

“Like I said, his soul is fractured.” A hand appeared, seeming to catch something in the air before a yellow flame glowed to life. It was of Faunus’ skull and horns and nothing more. “This should appear as all of him, just as your soul appears like you.Yet the body half of him is stuck inside the physical form you have granted in cursing him.”

“I didn’t mean to,” she sighed, rubbing at her face in confusion. Everything she’d learnt, all the pain she’d felt in the last few weeks and especially days... this was all far too overwhelming for just one person.

That’s when she noticed the liquid covering her cheeks and began wiping her face clean of her tears and snot.

“It’s fine,” he stated. “All I need to do is pull his soul from his physical form.”

Mayumi's heart clenched tightly as she turned her eyes to the side to look away from Weldir and, more importantly, Faunus.

“Your soul has dimmed further. You do not want this? You want to leave him how he is?”

“Not at all. I hate that I’ve done this to him.” Her lips tightened when a thought crossed her mind. “I don’t understand something. If you can do this, fuck with his soul, it means you must have power, right?” Mayumi turned her squinting eyes to Weldir’s cloudy essence. “Faunus said you’re some kind of demigod or some shit. If that’s the case, why didn’t you help him? He’s your son.”

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