Silence.
A deafening silence covered the entire space.
Arabor and Iyka were currently locked in a game of cards – with the kitsune very clearly nervous, while staring down at her card, trying to pick what card to make a move with. Arabor simply kept his gaze down onto the kitsune, his arms crossed and his cards floating in the air next to him.
After a short bit, Iyka made her move, placing a king of diamonds towards the dragon. Arabor looked at the card for a moment, before looking at his cards and then immediately moving two out from his hand, placing them next to the king of diamonds — the two cards being the king of spades and the king of clubs — before pushing all three cards back towards Iyka.
"Wha—" The kitsune was taken back by the move, before looking down at her remaining hand. After a bit, she exhaled and picked up all three cards. Arabor then drew two cards from the remaining deck, before making his move – placing a seven of clubs towards Iyka.
"Damnit…" The kitsune swore under her breath.
Looking through her hand – she had the choice between two cards to beat the seven of clubs. First was the king of clubs that she had just picked up and the other was the ace of hearts – the strongest trump card.
After a bit of back and forth, she used the king of clubs, before looking up at the dragon. "Anything to add?" Arabor shook his head. Iyka picked up both cards before placing them into the discard pile. Then, she moved her attention back to her hand.
"I have to say, you learned to play this game a lot faster than I anticipated, Miss Iyka." Arabor commented, with the kitsune lifting her head up towards the dragon, chuckling to herself lightly. "Only because you were so thorough in your explanation of how to play and the game's rules…."
"Please, I deserve little credit." The dragon laughed before encouraging her to make a move. After shedding a light sweat, she made her move, throwing out a pair of cards – ten of diamonds and ten of spades – towards Arabor. "By the way, Lord Arabor… I intended to ask, but where did you learn this game?"
Arabor looked at his cards, before moving two cards out and placing them onto the tens. "Simple. After I merged with Faofa's body, I got a window into his memories. From there, I saw that this was a rather common game in the human world, with many different people playing it."
"I-I see…" Iyka looked down at the four cards, before checking her hand. Nothing to add — thus, she picked them up and threw them into the discard pile. "On that note, I was curious about something else." Arabor looked down at her, raising one of his eyebrows. "Hm? And what may that be?"
After Arabor picked up the last two remaining cards from the deck, he made his move, placing a pair of queens in front of the kitsune. "When you explained the entire situation surrounding your seal and how you got here, you only briefly touched on the fact that Faofa was a reincarnator from another world…" She quickly placed out the two remaining kings in her hand, beating the queens before looking at the dragon, who gave the sign to discard the cards.
After placing them into the discard pile, she looked back at her hand, quickly making a move. "So I was simply curious about what exactly was his life like? Reincarnation is a rather rare phenomenon in the world, so I am curious as to why he was picked as someone to be reincarnated. Since you've seen his memories… Perhaps you could tell me what makes him special enough to be chosen?" Arabor remained silent, simply beating the card that Iyka had moved with, before placing them into the discard pile.
"If I have to be honest, I am unsure myself. Going off of his memories alone, he wasn't anyone extraordinary or special." The dragon began, with the kitsune looking rather surprised. "But then… Why and how did he get chosen to reincarnate? It's not some random process…"
"Well…" Arabor made his move towards Iyka, placing out a trio of cards, which with one look Iyka was basically forced to pick up. Then, Arabor made the last move — winning the game. The kitsune sighed, placing the cards to the side. "Well?"
"I have my own theory as to why he was chosen. But to understand it, you have to understand the full scope of the reincarnation phenomenon — which includes its nuances." The dragon leaned forwards a bit. "Tell me, how much do you know about it?"
Iyka thought about it for a second.
"Well… I know that the 'reincarnation phenomenon' is something that rarely occurs, where an individual from our world or from any other is reincarnated either into this world or another one. However, it is not a random event that happens on the whim — those that reincarnate are 'chosen' by some mysterious force to reincarnate, usually individuals that have displayed a special trait that they possess or have proven themselves greater than most. A lot of the most often reincarnators have been Heroes in the past." The kitsune took a light breath in, thinking about what else she knew. "Oh and the 'reincarnation phenomenon' is able to grant the one reincarnating special abilities which would be impossible to achieve in life."
Arabor nodded gently.
"As I expected, you know all the basics." Iyka raised an eyebrow. "How much more can there be to it?"
"Well, first the 'reincarnation phenomenon' isn't triggered by an unknown force as you put it."
"...It's not..?"
Arabor shook his head, but then looked away. "Though, I suppose to mortals like yourself, the 'source' of it is a mysterious force…." Iyka felt confused by the dragon's statements, with Arabor exhaling, scratching his head lightly. "Put it lightly, the reincarnation phenomenon is triggered by a special realm that exists outside our world. I'm sure you've heard of the Morsoculis' domain called 'Grave Hollow' or as you mortals call it - the 'Afterlife'."
Iyka's eyes slightly widened before she crossed her arms. "The… Afterlife? I mean, I know that it's the place where the departed go after death, but I didn't realise it was also the source of the reincarnation phenomenon…."
"It most certainly is. You see, the reason why the reincarnation phenomenon can occur is because the Afterlife isn't isolated to a single world. It is connected to thousands, potentially millions of other worlds through what me and my siblings have opted to call the 'ley lines'. Think of them as tunnels that allow entry from the living worlds to Morsoculis' domain, which are used by the souls of the dead to enter his domain after death. In a way, you could consider the Morsoculis' domain as the gateway that links all the worlds together."
Arabor leaned slightly towards Iyka. "That brings me to the 'reincarnation phenomenon' and how it actually works. As Morsoculis' domain is linked to many, many worlds and serves as the place where souls go after they perish, it theoreticallyallows any soul to travel to any world it wishes."
"Thereotically…?"
"Well, in order to leave the Grave Hollow, you require the permission of its ruler."
"Morsoculis…" Iyka looked down, with Arabor nodding lightly.
"B-But then how does that explain the reincarnation phenomenon? If souls can't leave the Afterlife without earning the permission of Morsoculis, how come the reincarnation phenomenon is possible?"
"Ah, but that's where it gets interesting." Arabor stated before using a bit of his power to create a slight representation for the next part he was about to explain to the kitsune. "You see, while it is true that every soul that enters Morsoculis' domain usually requires his permission to leave his domain, there are exceptions to this. Souls that in their nature are very powerful, far more than the average soul. Because of this, they are exempt from this rule and are allowed to leave the domain of Morsoculis' whenever they wish to themselves."
Iyka shed a sweat. "So that explains why a lot of reincarnators are mostly Heroes and what not…. B-But wait, if they can choose to leave whenever they want, that would mean that technically—"
"Indeed. The reincarnation phenomenon isn't exactly controlled by anyone. It is usually the choice of the ones that meet the requirements to be exempt from the rules of Morsoculis' domain to leave his domain and return to the living world. Well…" Arabor paused, before shrugging. "At least, they have partial say in the decision making process."
"Partial say…?"
"How to best explain it…." Arabor thought about it for a bit before changing the physical representation he was using for this explanation into two different human shapes. "First, I have failed to mention yet that there are technically two versions to the reincarnation phenomenon. The first, is what I've explained to you up until now — after the soul who does not require Morsoculis' permission to leave decides to return to the world of the living, while they make the decision to reincarnate, the 'domain' itself decides how the soul will reincarnate and where it will reincarnate. These individuals are what me and my siblings more often than not call 'True Reincarnators'."
Iyka observed as the physical representation being used shifted constantly, following along with what Arabor was saying. "Okay… And the second version?"
"The second version is one where the soul being reincarnated isn't one that can do so on its own. Usually, it is one that Morsoculis' himself has permitted to re-enter the world of the living or…"
Iyka raised an eyebrow. "...Or?"
"Remember how I said that there are many different worlds connected to the Grave Hollow?"
"...Yeah..? Why?"
"Well, as you should be aware by now, our world is 'alive' and is capable of thinking and communicating. The same is true for most of the other worlds that the Grave Hollow is connected to. With this in mind, it should come to no surprise that these worlds are capable of 'manipulating' or rather 'influencing' the reincarnation phenomenon, basically allowing any soul that the world chooses to bypass this permission requirement and forcefully pull its desired soul through the ley lines back to the world of the living."
Iyka nodded before shedding a slight sweat.
"So it's entirely possible for an individual to be reincarnated through technically three different means, but even then it's rare as each one is rather obscure… I'm I understanding it correctly?"
Arabor nodded. "Earning the permission of Morsoculis' is difficult, so it almost never happens through him. As for the 'special souls' that can choose to reincarnate themselves, they as we've established are mostly Heroes or individuals of immense power that are capable of this. And of course, a world 'choosing' to pull a soul forcefully through the ley lines to put it through reincarnation is also incredibly rare and, in fact, incredibly dangerous."
"Dangerous…?"
"Indeed. Think about it – a soul is a rather fragile thing for most. It is a strenuous enough process for it to travel from the living world to the Grave Hollow as is. If forced through the ley lines again, but this time back to the world of the living, there is a high risk of the soul being damaged or even destroyed."
Iyka looked down, a bit taken back before shaking her head. All of this information felt a tiny bit overwhelming, but she thought she understood it all to some extent.
The Reincarnation phenomenon is something that can only exist because of the Afterlife. Almost every world is connected to the Afterlife via 'tunnels' called the ley lines, which allow souls to travel to it. From there, there are three ways to be able to go through reincarnation and return to the world of the living — either be a special soul like a Hero or something and choose to reincarnate yourself, earn the permission of the Ruler of the Afterlife - which is near impossible - or be forcefully pulled back through the ley lines by one of the worlds.
"Okay… I think I understand it all so far."
"Good. That allows me to move onto my theory about Faofa — as I stated before, he wasn't anything special in his last life. His soul most certainly wasn't one that would qualify for being able to choose to reincarnate."
Iyka nodded. "Right, so that eliminates that option."
"Indeed. And we can also eliminate the option of earning Morsoculis' permission, as the Ruler of the Hollow has been gone for more than nine thousand years now, after making a deal with the Avatar."
"So that leaves only one option that would make sense…"
Arabor nodded, before leaning back and crossing his arms.
"I believe that our world forcefully pulled Faofa from the Grave Hollow and brought him here." Iyka crossed her arms, looking down while processing it. It most certainly was the most viable theory on why Faofa was able to go through the reincarnation phenomenon, however… There was one issue with it.
"...Why would the world do so?"
Arabor shrugged. "That is something I wish to know myself. The World has always been a mysterious being, even to us Primal Dragons, who were birthed by it. Not even we understand what it thinks or what it 'plans'." Iyka remained silent, brainstorming for a moment.
What reason could there be for it to do so – to bring Faofa here?
With what Arabor has said, Faofa isn't anything special, so why would the World go through the trouble of bringing him here by force?
"Other than the process of elimination, is there anything else that may prove that this indeed was the case for Faofa's reincarnation…? M-Maybe by some chance he went through some other way…"
"There is. His soul – when I first saw it – it had remnants of some sort of powerful protection. As if something was trying to ensure that his soul remained intact."
"You believe it was the world… right, Lord Arabor?"
"There is no one else I can think of that could do something like this." Arabor replied, before lowering his head. "The only thing I can't figure out is why it wanted Faofa. Clearly if it went through the trouble to even ensure that his soul remained intact when pulling him through the ley lines, it must need or rather want him for something. Something where it needs his soul to be unharmed."
Iyka remained silent before exhaling a bit later.
"Well, we can sit here and theorise all we want, but we won't reach a conclusion." Arabor, though slightly sour about the way the kitsune phrased it, nodded in agreement and sighed. "You aren't wrong. All that I've told you is simply my conclusions I drew using what I saw in Faofa's memory and from what I remember about the World and how it acts. For what it requires Faofa, we will have to figure out when we manage to leave this space."
After a moment, Iyka sighed again, before picking up the cards again. "Anyways… Thank you for the explanation, Lord Arabor."
"Of course. I am always happy to educate others on things they are not knowledgeable about." Iyka chuckled lightly, before starting to shuffle the cards together a bit. While she technically wasn't really told what Faofa's life was like before reincarnation, she believed she had more than enough information overloading her brain right now — perhaps after clearing a bit, she'll ask again and this time, not touch the reincarnation subject.
"Another round?"
Arabor looked down at the kitsune and nodded. "Sure, shuffle and deal them out please." Iyka nodded, continuing to thoroughly shuffle the cards together. Arabor watched her for a moment, before a sudden presence hit him.
The dragon immediately threw his gaze around, as if searching for something. Iyka looked up at the dragon with slight confusion. "...Is everything alright, Lord Arabor?"
The dragon remained silent, looking around. "That presence I just felt… It was only brief, however I could swear it belonged to it." The dragon thought, before narrowing his eyes and looking up at the light that was above him and Iyka — Faofa's 'soul'. "What is happening out there with you, Faofa?"
"Lord Arabor? Can you hear me?"
After a bit, Arabor snapped out of it and looked back down at the kitsune. "Is everything alright…?" The dragon remained silent for a moment, before shaking his head. "Sorry, everything is fine. Deal the cards out."
"R-Right away…" The kitsune then began to deal out the cards, with six on each side before placing one down as the 'trump' and then the rest of the deck onto it. Arabor picked up his cards with telekinesis, all the while a bit lost in his mind. "I have this deep, unsettling feeling that there is potentially some ploy going on… What…."
….
"Just what…."
….
"....Is the world planning?"
In a deep, deep darkness – one that existed nowhere and yet everywhere at the same time, the rough shape of a humanoid figure stood – its body slightly illuminated by a gentle light of a window, with information in an unknown language.
"Hm…."
It groaned a bit, its arms behind its back. "...Must tread… Carefully."