Arthur's Astral form ascended with Ra's guidance into the vast expanse of space, living the globe behind. From Ra Arthur had learnt that each world had a central planet Where the Divine spirit resides. The will of this spirit is the cosmic force that flows throughout the entire cosmos maintaining the laws of existence and continuity of the world.
Arthur knew that the goddess Gaea was the divine spirit of Terros and it was by her will that mankind had the Awakened among them to fight against the invading demons.
Arthur's awareness was attuned to The flow of energies thanks to Ra and it was easy to sense how the cosmic energy in this world flowed in a steady spiraling vortex around this planet.
The other planets, asteroids and stars were all floating in this sea of space within the swirling cosmic energy.
It wasn't difficult to figure out that, if he wanted to exist, he had to flow away from the central planet, moving ever further until he found the edge of this world.
And so he drifted away.
He floated past planets of all sizes, some were as big as moons and some had moons that dwarfed other planets. None of them had life, greenery and the magic that the planet terros had. some were made of only water, others globes of sand and some were masses of gas.
There were asteroids made of ice, gold, silver and ores Arthur could not name. Space, Arthur found was beautiful. And the crown jewels of this beauty were the Luminous balls of flame and light that were woven into it's tapestry.
Stars were simply clusters of cosmic energy. They were a natural way in which a Cosmos stored it's energies. But they were beautiful to gaze upon of a size and scale incomprehensible to Arthur. Ofcourse Arthur did not have eyes in the physical sense.
He was simply aware of these stars with his conscious perception tied to his soul. It was his conscious interpretation of that information that allowed him to 'see' as one with eyes. But he wouldn't be blinded by the magnificence of these cosmic fragments.
It felt like he had traveled for years within the emptiness of space. however Ra assured him that his perception of time as a conscious soul was far removed from the normal flow of time. Most souls are not even aware of time much less conscious without a vessel.
Arthur's unique ability allowed him to use his astral form as a medium of his consciousness and awareness. It hadn't even been minutes since Arthur last saw the hero and beyond the void time was even slower.
They found themselves heading towards a Wall of swirling energies. The Veil. The shell in which this world was held. Arthur's soul was simply a spec before this infinite expanse.
Arthur let his soul energy flow out weaving a force field around him. He felt Ra's will, silent within his soul, hidden from the gaze of this world as it lent his soul weight, turning the meager force field into a raging nimbus that pushed against the Veil.
Arthur's form moved in the comet of raw force about him and pushed past the Veil into The Void between worlds.
Immediately his awareness picked up the stack difference between this plane and the cosmos.
Where the cosmos was existence given form and order, here it was raw, formless and chaotic. What he thought were stars before were simply clusters of raw aether trying to gain form and shape.
But that wasn't the only thing he became aware of. Suddenly he felt like there was less of him. His Astral form was flickering and he felt sleepy, tired and weak. It was different as he had no body but it was very close to the weakness that had been bone deep in his earthly body. He hated this feeling. Before he could process This feeling, His surroundings changed.
He found himself himself standing upon a vast rocky plane as far as the eye could see under a bright red Sun, that seemed to be pressing down on the world. Standing before him was Ra in his terrible shadowy titan form.
Floating between them was a ball sized orb giving off a pure blue whitish light.
"What is this place?"Arthur asked. He noticed the weakness and feeling of being less than himself had left him.
"This is your soul space." The Titan said his arms spread to encampas this place in entirety.
"The realm within your soul." The you standing there is the incarnation of the will that dwells within this soul. your memories, desires, And sense of your own existence, The Ego.
"And this floating ball is your soul core, the source of your soul energy."
Arthur looked around the rocky plane, the red sun and the red light that permeated this place.
"Why is it like this?" He asked.
"That's my influence, since i reside here too. The Giant sun is my soul core!" Ra told him.
Arthur's eyes widened at that revelation. While his core was no bigger than a soccer ball, The Titan's was the size of a star. Arthur had to remember that Ra was the remnant of a God.
"You felt it, the weakness of your being!" Ra told him bringing Arthur's attention away from the sun.
"That's because you are running low on soul energy. You Arthur have no source of energy to replenish the energy you expend. Your astral form, your consciousness and using your ability to cross into and out of worlds. All that draws upon your soul for energy.
"When you had a living body, the life force within fed your soul, and as you expended energy crossing to watch the Hero's fate, your soul always returned. Perhaps that's why your body was so weak, because your strong soul took more from it than it could give!"
Arthur was silent at Ra's conclusion. That his unique soul was the reason he was bedridden, living a life of weakness and uselessness sounded not at all disimilar with the gibberish preachers would tell him to comfort him claiming it was all part of God's great plan. But that didn't matter anymore. He had already discarded that body.
More pressingly was his diminishing soul energy. If it was the only force sustaining his existence then it was of the utmost importance that a solution be found.
He turned to Ra. filing away that piece of information about his soul and body for another time.
"You have a Gaint mass of energy," He said looking up at the red sun. "Why not give me some?"
"I am a void being. If my energy flowed into your soul you might very well lose your sense of self without a will to strong enough to bind it. Not to mention absolute corruption of your soul. You will either become a creature of the void, mindless in your existence or your very soul will be unmade as it wouldn't be able to maintain its form with void essence!"
"Then how do i save my soul from its clear doom?" Arthur asked, desperation tinging his voice. " You mentioned that you knew a world where i could strengthen my soul. Shouldn't we be going there?"
And then something occurred to him. Ra had brought him to this soul space instead of guiding him to this new world. Did that mean he didn't have enough soul energy to enter this world? That was a frightening thought. His desire to go to the Hero's world first might have cost him his chance at saving him!
He met Ra's crimson starry eyes. They seemed to grow brighter under the red sun. Dreading the revelation that he was out of soul juice.
"You are too impatient!"
"Do i not have enough soul energy to travel into this other world?"
"You have enough, atleast for a single jump, into the world."
"Then why are we not going to this world?"
"Because you know nothing about this world. We are here so that you may learn. And we may prepare you. For the world of Arebos. A realm of spirits!"