I woke up the next morning with sunlight hitting my face from the window. My body resisted the urge to get up at first. I was still tired, but I was surprised when I moved, my body was not sore. There was not a single ache in my body, and I found myself feeling a surprising respect for the fast-talking girl who came to visit me last night. 

 I sat up, and slid my feet to the wooden floor of my room and went to the window again. Outside, the scenery was that of a forest now, and I couldn't help but smile as my eyes took in a scene where large trees were covered in moss as pine needles waved gently in a breeze. Butterflies, red and orange fluttered about the area, and tree critters could be seen with their fluffy tails scurrying about the trunks and ground of the area. I couldn't wait to get out there.

Turning I grabbed the clothes that Kora had given to me last night, and shook them out. It was a simple black and white uniform, the loose pants and tank top with the red emblem blazing, a dragon's head profile raised up against a phoenix head, their maws open as if they were giving out mighty cries. The black pants fit my slender waist nicely and despite the flow of the material around my legs, the white ankle hem was tightly fit which kept it from getting in the way of my feet. The tank top was tight-fitting and long enough to be tucked in under the pants as it fit my form nicely. These things had been made for comfort it seemed – and for maneuverability. 

Grabbing Estrakulius, I held him in my hands and ventured forth, out of my room and down the long hall. When I walked outside it felt like spring; the humming of the bugs and the chirping of birds were a symphony of natural music as I turned and wandered through the maze of the trees.

During this time, I didn't see anyone – I attributed this to it being very early in the morning. The crisp morning air had a certain bite to it that mid-morning and afternoon didn't and it was refreshing, even through my eventual frustration at having a hard time remembering which way to go. Finally, I found the building that CiCi had told me about. It was in the shape of a treehouse, though it was not high up but rather, made up of a bunch of trees together in a grove and hollowed out. It was very creative to say the least, I had to admit of the person who dreamed this up. They were big trees, the trunks a reddish brown with scorch marks scoring the base around it. The doors seemed to be carved out to perfection, oval doors that seemed like magical entryways to another world, the kind you see in fairy tales. 

Looking up at these trees, I felt as if even if I lay down and looked straight up into the clouds I still would not be able to gaze upon the canopy of these trees. Each trunk had to be as wide as a house, but together the grove of trees was so thick and massive that I could not even glimpse where the grove began and where it ended. Approaching the door I pushed it open and stepped within the building tentatively. People were milling about and I stepped further into the building, my arms reaching around and touching the blade of Estrakulius, tied to my body, seeking the comfort of the blade that I knew was there. Several looked towards me and their eyes narrowed sharply at me. It was a surprise even to myself when I felt my face tighten and I glared at them back.

“Yuzuki!” A familiar voice called out and I turned to the right where the voice rang. The red-haired woman was hurrying towards me, going against the tides of the people flowing against her. I was so relieved when I saw that it was CiCi, and I went towards her, still resting my fingers against the blade that was attached to me crudely.

“Why are you wearing your sword?” CiCi asked, shooting me a disapproving look.

“No one told me otherwise. Besides, I feel better when I have a blade on me.” I responded back, in a short voice. I suppose I've never been a morning person, to begin with, and getting scolded for rules no one told me about wasn’t my favorite thing. 

“Well, there will be no blades in this building. This is an educational building. And it's full of children. So there is no need for it. Come along.” CiCi said, patting my shoulder before turning and escorting me in the direction she'd come from. “Nonetheless I'm glad you brought your soulmate. He will need to have a sheath made for him. I will give him to Leon for him to take to the forge. As you may have noticed from looking at other people's Soulmates, they usually have special equipment that goes along with them. Elliot and Artemius have special metal gloves, I have a sheath for my blade, Kora has a hook that attaches to her person. Our weapons are born from our souls, but that does not include the special protective gear that comes with them. Those we get made, and our people do a fantastic job.'' CiCi told me and I nodded appreciatively. Having a proper contraption to hold Estrakulius would be convenient, and less tacky than wrapping him in a sheet. Not to mention, he was probably uncomfortable the way he was now.

Realizing faintly that I was thinking of my sword as a living person, I followed CiCi down the hallway. The weird insanity that everyone seemed to be infected with here was probably contagious. What else could it be? I may have been a little mentally and emotionally traumatized because of my life but last I checked swords were not people. And they did not have genders or feelings. I was lost in my thoughts when I nearly ran into the back of her as she abruptly stopped. I stumbled back a few steps, looking up at the tall woman, and nearly scowled until I realized she was beaming down at me with a rather vibrant smile.

“This will be your first class. You will particularly like this class I think, as it will answer a lot of your many questions. This will be where you learn about the Tisin, what they are, what they do, what we know, and most of all what our goal is, and how it affects the cycle of life. This is a school for the younger members of our community. You will only be attending until you have learned the fundamentals of life here and the important things you need to know. After that, it will be training on how our military is run and what your duties will be. You will be learning that with Leon. I understand it may be uncomfortable being in a class with children, but I expect you will learn the basics quickly.” She told me. 

I was filled with mixed emotions. It was slightly humiliating being put in a class with children, but she was correct that I needed to learn the basics of what this world was. I was glad that I was being educated in a class-like setting. It would be easier to learn about the world like this, rather than asking a thousand questions as I ran across things that confused me. 

I followed her into the classroom, wondering what kind of experience this was going to be. I had never attended school with other children as a child. My siblings and I were privately tutored, and the lessons were rigorous. We were expected to be intelligent and knowledgeable so that fulfilling missions was easy without raising curiosity. What surprised me is this did not typically seem like some sort of study room. Littering the ground were comfortable squishy-looking sacks in all various colors. Decorating the wall were layers upon layers of colorful pictures - none of which I could depict. They looked as if they were drawn in colored chalk and none of them were consistent, rather a bunch of colored blobs on paper. I couldn’t help but frown as my eyes traveled to the front and the slacking of my bottom jaw when my eyes took in - a ginormous man surrounded by young children.

I could feel my eyes widen, first taking in the children who were all staring up at CiCi and I, who obviously had interrupted something much to their disapproval with the few glares I could see illuminating their young features. Turning my sight to the enormous man I raised my eyebrows. He was very, very round, with a short and neatly groomed beard and mustache that were as white as untouched snow. His eyes twinkled sky blue under round spectacles and he wore strange bright garments instead of the usual attire you would see on CiCi, or anyone else around for that matter. He wore tan shorts and a bright shirt that was decorated with a mostly barren tree, blues and reds and yellows in a tacky pattern as the background. 

“Claus. This is Yuzuki Kobayashi. She’s our newest transcended addition, and she is your new student.” CiCi told the fat old man on the chair surrounded by children in a voice that was simply so matter-of-factly with such a straight face, I was tempted to smile for her. Claus stood up and to my shock, he was tall. As tall as Leon in fact, and he stepped over the small children with ease, all of whom stood perfectly still and didn’t even flinch as enormous feet went past their faces and over their heads. Claus approached me. I expected him to greet me but I was taken by surprise when he leaned down and wrapped his large arms around me and squeezed me, my feet lifting off the air and he spun me around, letting out a giant, jolly laugh. I grunted as my ribs were squeezed, Estrakulius pressing against my back. He set me down and peered down at me with sparkling blue eyes behind those ridiculously round spectacles. 

“Hoho! Well, let me take a look at you Miss Yuzuki. My, it’s not often I get adults in this class. You could be my class aid even! Well, hand over your Soulmate to Miss CiCi, and we’ll be on our way. Chop chop!” His voice was deep, and slightly accented, his R’s slightly extended and rolled, some of his vowels short and choppy. I must have looked so frazzled, because some of the children looked at me and gave out small giggles behind small hands. Seeing this, I turned to CiCi with a pleading look - couldn’t SHE just teach me? When she held her hand out for Estrakulius mercilessly, now an amused little smirk on her face I let out a soft sigh and unstrapped Estrakulius from my body, and gingerly held him out to her. She was careful taking him, using both hands as if she were expecting it to be heavy - and I couldn’t help but notice the shocked blink she gave, and the small lifting motion she made with him, as if she were testing the weight. I raised my eyebrows at her and opened my mouth but she held up a hand first and gave me a smile.

“Pay attention in class. I’ll find you later. The rest of your classes will be very different so take the time to relax while you can. ” She said curtly before turning on her heel, and striding from the room, leaving me alone staring after her wistfully, disliking the thought of being separated from Estrakulius in a room full of children who I had a feeling were going to be vicious. Turning to face them, I stared at them, while they stared at me, Claus was at the wall, and beaming happily.  When his accented voice boomed out, it startled me and I jumped out of my skin accordingly. 

“So, Miss Yuzuki. What do you know about this world, and how it connects to the world after, and the Physical Dimension?” The giant, fat man asked me, straightening out his beach-themed shirt, and smoothing it over. Was he blushing, or were his cheeks always that rosy? His pudgy hands went up and pushed up his spectacles back onto his round red nose,  his long white hair like a flowing cloud down his back, and surrounding the lower half of his face in a beard. What did I know? I didn’t know anything. I resisted the urge to roll my eyes and shoot him a nasty look and instead, I crossed my arms and looked at the ground.

“I know there are monsters that eat souls. And when people die, those who are uncertain of themselves come here, instead of ….somewhere else?” I said, sighing, and shrugging. Claus smiled gently and clapped his hands again excitedly. The children gazed at me in shock, and one little girl stood up. Her hair was silver, and her eyes were the palest green I’d ever seen. 

“You’re like…old and you don’t know anything? Where have you been? Under a rock?“ She asked in a snooty voice. She was a petite little thing, and her silver sundress was made from, what I could see, silk. Was this child a noble’s daughter or something? The last thing I’d ever wanted to see was another noble brat. Clause turned to her sharply and shook his finger.

“Mint, that is incredibly rude. She has transcended, child. She was not able to grow up in this world like you and the rest.” Clause told her in a stern but gentle voice. I wrinkled my nose at the contradiction I heard. The little girl huffed and turned to her teacher, frowning. She couldn’t have been more than eight years old.

“I don’t know what that means, Teacher.” She said in an irritated voice. I couldn’t help but wonder if this girl was a child who had to know everything. The kind that would grow up to be an inventor, or a scientist, or one of those wandering monks searching for knowledge in everything. 

“She came into this world like I did. Remember I told you the story. This means this girl has had a very hard time these past few days, and she remembers her life in the Living Dimension, unlike all of you.” Here is where my curiosity peaked and I edged closer.

“You mean, they don’t remember?” I asked incredulously and the fat happy man let out a very girly giggle, and came over to me, and put a hand on my shoulder. 

“No one but Miss CiCi, Leon, Malakaii, yourself, and myself knows of the lives that happened to them. Everyone else was erased, their souls sent here and reborn, or cleansed as Tisin. These children are the Cleansed. And they were born to parents here as you were born to yours in your living life.” As he spoke, I felt my face contorting in that stupid and confused expression that seemed to be permanently stuck to my face since I awoke in this realm.  He let out a little laugh and turned. “I have an idea. Why don't you all help me teach her with your special gifts? Come on everyone!” He said and tugged me over to the comfortable looking chair that looked much like a red, squishy throne while the children stood and began to mill about. He pushed me into the chair, and sat on the floor next to me and crossed his legs as the lights in the room dimmed.

One child, a little scrawny boy, stood by the side as the children lined up seemingly sporadically and he held his hands out as they began to glow, and a spotlight fell on the little girl named Mint, who stood in the center, in front of me. Her eyes were closed and her little sundress seemed to shimmer in the light. Her pale green eyes opened and she held her hands out and she began to speak. 

“It starts with birth. The birth of a soul. No one knows where souls are born - or how they cross the lines of the dimensions…” Another little girl stepped forward with purple hair that was cropped short under her ears and she swayed back and forth, and a giant luminescent ball that I could see through appeared. The orb was a mixture of color, a gradient of a rainbow, and it seemed to be squirming, breaking, and a small little golden orb emerged from the larger one. “Some say that the souls are born in a realm that is simply one giant tranquil pond, and the lilies thriving there give birth to souls when they bloom.” The ball the other little girl seemed to be controlling changed into a scene. The room became a water pool, pink flowers on lily pads floating about and the one directly in front of me opened, the golden orb rising from the center.  A boy stepped forward now, his hands in his pockets, blue eyes glaring in the light of the room emitting from the two children controlling them. His hair was black and he looked at the orb.

“They cross into the world of the living and begin its new cycle. It waits, and finds an unborn child, one who has barely begun to grow in its mother's body, and embeds itself within it. It grows, and grows until it is born, and lives the life that it chose. The souls apparently have no way of knowing if their life will be bad, they just find the nearest seed and plant themselves.” He said this and I watched as the illusions the girl was controlling turned into a scene of a woman, gently flowing inside her womb, and it glowed there, and rapidly, the woman went through the phases of pregnancy before me, until it blurred and turned into a baby in the woman’s arms. I was vaguely aware of my mouth hanging slack. These children didn’t have any Soulmates hooked on to their bodies, so how were they operating these skills? There had to be more to it. I inwardly groaned and paid attention - for every answer I seemed to get only raised four more questions. Would it always be like this? 

Another child stepped forward but I was not sure which one, for now the illusion of the child was rapidly growing, slowly turning into the shape of a young male, then an adolescent, then a full grown man. The new child spoke gently now. “Depending on the life they live, there are four possible routes they can take. For evil deeds done maliciously, with destructive intentions, they take the dark gate. No one knows for sure where this leads… but some say it’s to a place so dark, where that particular soul never sees the light again.” A large monstrous door opened up behind the man, the silhouette of the young man was swallowed by darkness as the door slammed behind him. I shivered, my own imagination adding a malevolent chuckle to the scene and I felt a large warm hand reach up and pat my arm. I looked down at Claus, who was twinkling at me with his cheerful blue eyes, and my anxiety stilled. Looking back at the children. The spotlight moved from the young boy who had spoken last to another little girl, her brown hair was wrapped in ribbons and she wore a frilly dress, and the ribbons and dress were matching pink. Her pigtails were very curly and she smiled at me.

“But those who were conflicted, trembling on the edge of pure intentions and tainted ones are classified as lost.” I frowned now at this child. Children should not be able to speak like that - in fact, all of these children seemed to be speaking on words and structures that were not normal for children of such young ages but again, I pushed the thought from my mind and focused on her words. “When lost souls die, they generally become Tisin, which are animalistic creatures, souls that take the meta-physical embodiment of animals and humans together. These creatures are pure instinct, and are only able to focus on the pain that their warped bodies cause them, trying to appease their sorrow by following the instincts to devour the power of others, until they are either eaten themselves, or cleansed by a being powerful enough to cleanse their souls.” She spoke in a gentle voice and stepped back as the silhouette of the man twisted in agony, and his body morphed into a hulking creature, various animal parts shifting and changing on his body, and he seemed to devour other people, until a woman with long flowing hair came up and with one swipe of a hammer, turned the Tisin into a small orb…. Again the image flickered and it turned once more into a man. The spotlight slid over to a small boy, and he flailed his arms excitedly as it was indicated that it was his turn to talk.

“Sometimes though, Lost souls don’t turn into Tisin, and they are brought here to Limbo. And we get to be born again, it's like round two! A time to make better choices.  We are born, and we know nothing of the problems we faced in our life when we were in the other realm. You see, we get a whole new chance! The slate is wiped completely clean.” He said, hopping over to me, and grinned up in a goofy, crooked way. I couldn’t help but smile at him, and I reached up with my hand that seemed too slender and soft in this world, and patted his head. He promptly turned and sat in Claus’ lap and turned to the front of the class. The spotlight slid to Mint again, and she turned up.

“The final path, if they lived purely and discreetly… they pass over to the Final Transcendence phase. Lore has it that once they pass beyond this gate, they can choose to either start the process over again and recycle, or stay and become a being of a different nature, one that helps guide and protect those in the Physical Dimension.” She said as a different door opened up behind the illusion of the man. This one was golden, and white, and it opened up, the young man turned and walked into the light of the door, and it simply faded. The spotlight flicked off and light emitted, filling the room once more, making me blink against the flare that filled my eyes. The children all sat back down again and Claus let out a chuckle, standing, and stepping over them once more, standing behind the group. As if on cue, the children all turned to him and stared, watching as he took a stance, relishing in the attention. 

“You all learned well but there is one that we have not covered. The fifth Path…” Clause said in a dramatic accented voice, the children seemed to be ensnared in his words, and I couldn’t help but smile. No wonder CiCi had put him in charge of this class. History and life in this world was important, as it was in all worlds to know. And it seemed he knew how to capture the attention of little ones, and I found even myself being drawn to his voice as he began to speak, whispering loudly, dramatically flailing his hands,  gazing out into a horizon that only he could see with his sky blue eyes, expression bewildered and excited as if he were having an adventure in his own mind. “The Transcendence. There are few special souls who are able to simply rise out of their world and into the next. Each one is different, their strengths varying. Great things have come from most of the souls who were able to travel here without being born as a Cleansed. Each life is very different, each life ending in various ways. But one thing they have in common: They come into existence within this world by crossing a barrier between the Physical World and Limbo that requires a great strength and will to survive. We do not know what happens, if a soul attempts this type of travel to this world and is not strong enough to handle the psychic wall that bars their way. There are currently five known people who have come to limbo in such a manner, Head Chieftain CiCi, Head Chief Leon, Grand Wizard Malakaii, myself… and our newest Transcended, Miss Yuzuki over there behind you. It can be said, we can all expect great things from this young lady…” He gestured dramatically to me and I felt my cheeks flush with embarrassment as every little head and wide eye turned to me in the classroom. There was a long heavy silence filling the classroom when Claus finally let out a booming laugh and clapped his large pudgy hands together. “Okay everyone! Skedaddle! Class dismissed until the morrow! Toodles, wee ones!”

The children got up and waved goodbye, laughing excitedly. I stayed there dumbstruck, my eyes staring at the giant man who twinkled down at them all with merry eyes. Damn his twinkling - why was he so happy about this? When the last straggler, the little boy who’d come up and sat on Claus’ lap during the time of the story, finally grabbed his stuff, hugged me haphazardly and then, somehow jumped up into Claus’ arm, giving him a hug that could have very well crushed the giant man’s own ribs and then darted out the door, tripping along the way, I turned to Claus, feeling the irritation swim through my head. 

“So you’re telling me that until now there are only four known people who have come here directly from their previous lives? And we are the only five that remember what happened to us?” I asked him, with severe disbelief. How many souls had to come here? The downfall to humanity is that each individual is incredibly human - and so therefore certainly most people had to come here instead of straight to the next stage in afterlife. Claus turned to me and smiled.

“Correct lass. And some of us have been here long enough that the memories of what used to be have started to fade away. Would you like to grab a mug of hot chocolate with me?” He answered in his thick accented voice, full of cheer. As if this were the most normal conversation in the world. I stared at him, completely taken aback. There were no words. Nothing to describe what I was feeling at the moment.  Claus reached over with his unrealistically large hand and patted my shoulder gently. “It’s a lot to take in. No one’s expecting you to understand it all in one go. But there is so much about this world that you just don’t understand. If you like lass, we can go get some hot chocolate because you know, hot chocolate makes everything better. And while we drink it you can pelt me with questions and I will answer to the best of my ability.” Claus offered. With that I let out a defeated sigh and nodded my head. 

Soon I found myself led to a portion of the school that seemed to be a dining area. Long tables of cherry wood lined the room and I sat down at one of them while Claus fetched the two hot cups of chocolate. When he returned and handed me one of them, I stayed silent while he situated his large body in the wooden chair across from me, and when he finally got comfortable, he beamed at me with his brilliant eyes, his pink cheeks and rather red nose. 

“I apologize for Mint’s behavior earlier, by the by. Many of the children who live here within the academy are unfortunate. Mint lost her parents to Tisin recently, and she was brought here by a patrol that had found her. She’s been rather angry since she’s come here, but we are working through it.”

“If she lost her parents, her behavior is normal. Besides, I disliked most children long before I met her, so I am not easily offended by them.” I answered, catching the look of surprise on his face.

“You don’t like children?” He asked, his voice incredulous as if that was the most ludacris thing he’d ever heard.

“There are…few exceptions.” I answered stiffly, looking away as my mind wandered to little Alice. Claus cleared his throat, a small amused grin on his face before shaking his head.

“So, lassy. What do you want to know?” he asked as I raised the cup of hot chocolate to my lips and tentatively sipped. The proper response to his question would have been the words “Everything.” However that would have accomplished nothing. So, I pondered for a few seconds on what was most immediate. Supposing things would come in time, I decided to stick with the basics.

"Yesterday, I fought a Tisin. My ...Soulmate... is it? It appeared from inside my body. Is that correct?" I supposed now was as good of a time as any to express concern that an extremely sharp object had exited my body and I was not wounded. It was not normal, and at the time and for the rest of the day I'd been a bit preoccupied. So I had concluded there was no time like the present. 

"First off, lass. Your Soulmate is not an it but rather a who. Are they a lad or lass?" Claus corrected me and I could feel the incredulous exasperated expression stretching my features as I eyeballed this crazy old man.

"Ex-excuse me?" I stuttered, not entirely sure I'd heard him correctly. Did he just call the sword that talked a 'who' and ask me if it had a gender? No, I thought surely not. But inevitably, Claus did repeat himself, and I was proven to be correct.

"Is your Soulmate a lad or a lass, silly girl?" Claus said this in a stern voice and I stammered for a second. I didn't KNOW. I didn't check the hilt for gender-specifying body parts. But instead of snapping that response, due to the tone of voice he was using I thought the safest route would be to answer in a subtle way cluing him I had no idea what in the world he was talking about.

"The voice that was speaking to me sounded male if that's what you mean," I said with uncertainty. Claus raised his eyebrows at me before sighing, and taking a drink of the hot chocolate he'd obtained for himself. I wasn't quite sure how he managed it, the hot chocolate I was resting my hand on in my own mug was still scalding hot.

"Then he is a male. And it’s surprising that he spoke to you with words. Most newly awakened soulmates are felt - and people know instinctively. Now to answer your question. No, the blade did not actually come from your body. A Spirit Warrior Soulmate is forged during a moment where their spirit here fully awakens and begins to tap into its innate potential. It feels as if they are being ripped from the body but what it actually is your own spirit, mind and body manifesting subconsciously as a weapon that would be best suited for you and your strengths. It's an extension of your subconscious becoming conscious, it’s your inner core becoming an exterior object. It's your manifestation of power becoming a weapon for you, while becoming a vocal entity of its own existence." I listened to him fascinated. So Estrakulius was actually... a reflection of me, in a manner of speaking. 

"Wow. That's deep stuff. Is that why when it - uh, he, disconnected from me, I felt like a huge part of my soul was missing?" I tried to respond vaguely to cover up some of the awe I was in. However, I was certain the fact I was impressed was written all over my face. so I decided to move on with my barrage of questions.

"That is my speculation. I've yet to meet a single Warrior who did not feel as if a vital part of themselves was missing when they awakened. While we don’t have a clear answer as to why, the comfort is knowing that you are not alone in it." Claus admitted in his accented voice and I couldn't help but feel a bit relieved. The feeling of being half empty had disturbed me and I'd been worried that was just another side effect of arriving here differently than most souls did. 

"So... if Estrakulius is a boy does that mean a part of my soul ...and stuff... was a boy?" I asked him, raising a skeptical brow. To this, Claus let out a booming laugh. 

"No child. It's simply male because that is how it wanted to be. The moment he awakened to become a separate extension of you it had its own will and mind." He explained.  I felt faintly better about this, I had not been entirely keen on the idea that there was such a masculine side of me that something had to come out to be male. I very much liked being a girl, but never before had I actually given it that much thought until being forced to think about it.

"So, that Tisin I fought... Did I kill it?" I could feel my expression fall at this question. Yet one more thing that had bothered me at the time I did not get a chance to ask anyone to elaborate on. I had sworn to protect Alice but from what I knew, those were human souls trapped because of a harsh life misleading them. Claus was quiet for a moment, taking another sip of his hot chocolate as he chewed thoughtfully on the thoughts within his mind. I squirmed in the silence, becoming all too aware of the dread in my chest, and my eyes fell to my mug of hot chocolate, watching the steam steadily rise from the light brown liquid within it. It felt like ages before he answered and before he did, I felt a gentle warm hand pat my arm gently. Looking up I saw his expression was kind and gentle.

"Would it bother you if you did kill it?" He asked in a soft voice and I nodded. My eyes began to burn, and a lump formed in my throat, my teeth gnawing at my bottom lip to resist the urge to let it tremble. Claus looked most pleased with this answer for he smiled brightly,  swiss blue-topaz eyes sparkling brilliantly at me. "I suppose it's a good thing you did not kill it then, eh?" He responded chuckling, taking his enormous hand from my arm, taking in the expression of relief that had more than likely crossed my features. The tell-tale signs of tears disappeared, replaced by a fierce joy that spread through me like a burning sensation.

"So... what happened then? There were two lights and-" Claus held a hand up and shook his head, again that booming chuckle that sounded as if it resonated deep within his body and then vibrated the airwaves about him echoing in my ears.

"I know very well what happens when you cleanse a Tisin dear girl.  When you cleansed it, it turned into a human-looking person, completely vulnerable and smashed to pieces. That is their soul regaining the humanity that they lost. When they turn into lights and separate - their soul which is usually white returns to the cycle of life. Unfortunately, it only salvages the soul that was the Tisin itself - and does not redeem the souls that that Tisin devoured to gain power for itself. Either they will be reborn here or on Earth to try again. The other light that goes into your weapon is a booster. Slowly over time the more you cleanse the stronger your spirit within your Soulmate becomes. You will eventually be able to command the powers of your Soulmate with no problems. It helps connect you and your Soulmate further. It is provided by the Tisin's innate abilities as well. It depends on how many more Tisin and souls that particular creature had devoured on how strong it'll be." Claus explained. I felt my mouth go slack as I listened to him. So not only did I not kill it, but I had restored some of the tipping balance of life? Well. That was cool, wasn't it? I smiled a bit as I thought about that, now that I knew that the wounds I had suffered were well worth it now.  But speaking of wounds... that brought on my next question.

“If we’re dead, how can we feel pain? How is this cup of hot chocolate possible? We don’t need to breathe, do we need to eat? Why does this existence feel so… alive?” Claus seemed absolutely thrilled to answer these questions, and he stroked his small white beard as he thought about the answer he was about to give.  In the silence I squirmed in my seat. The patience I had felt yesterday at Malakaii’s cottage when asking questions was gone now that I had experienced some of this life. When he was about to speak, he cleared his throat dramatically and I stilled as his voice filled my ears.

“You shouldn’t focus on the fact that you have died so much when thinking about these things. We are in our own right as much alive in this world, as we were in the last. It’s simply another place in time that our spirit is. We have our own bodies, we have our own lives here. Consider it … a second life lass. Should we find a way to break out and visit the world we used to live in, we would become insubstantial, and invisible. We would be there, but we would not be there. There will always be a barrier between the dimensions. But here we are as alive as we can be. The need to eat is lessened but it is there. We must nourish ourselves, cherish our bodies here. It’s more symbolic. On Earth we need to eat and take care of ourselves to survive - here it’s more of the fact that we cherish this chance we have gotten. We feel pain because on this plane of existence, we are solid entities. This cup of hot chocolate, any food we eat it’s all possible because it was farmed by people who work hard. In everything we do… it’s odd and different and not natural to you because you remember what it was like in the other place. Most here do not. This life is natural to them and it will grow natural to you eventually as well. In short, the answer to most of the questions you have is this, lass: It is so because we are existing. It’s simply different.” 

When he stopped speaking, he picked up his cup and took a sip of it. I mimicked the action, my mind whirling about what he said. It made sense, though every part of me wanted to argue. I looked at him and he beamed back cheerfully at me. I felt as though I was lacking but I could not argue the fact that he was right. It would be much easier to simply let myself learn things naturally rather than trying to understand it all at once. I finally realized in this moment just how contagious his cheer was, and I let out a little laugh and smiled back feeling as if I had learned something very important. 

“What is your soulmate?” I asked him curiously, wondering what kind of weapon a man like Claus would create from his soul.

“Ah, she is a mighty morning star! Her name is Mintaka.” Claus beamed brightly. “I don’t get to wear her a lot due to the fact that I teach young children. But when I do, she and I are a team to behold!” His voice was thick with pride and I smiled a bit, enjoying the sense that he was proud of his soulmate. 

“What is a morning star?” I asked, and Claus grinned. 

“Think of a giant metal ball with very sharp spikes all over it, attached to a chain and a long metal handle. You swing it around, and smash things with it!” He explained, and I grinned, feeling that this was the sort of weapon that was most appropriate for the giant man.

“Thank you, Claus-sensei.” Earlier I mentioned the profound understanding that I did not need to use honorifics and so far I had used two of them. Each person I encountered, someone I felt I learned something from, I felt the need to express my gratitude by allowing a bit of my old culture to slip into it. There was no easier way for me to express my appreciation than the use of honorifics. Claus gave me a funny look, tilting his chubby face to the side. I smiled, realizing he had no recognition of my old ways. 

I took the liberty to explain, and he laughed. I remember sitting there with him for a long time talking back and forth, losing track of time and when I left him I realized vaguely… I had made another friend. 

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Memoirs Of The In-Between Table Of Contents

Memoirs Of The In-Between: Chapter 5

Limbo School And Another Mr. Claus

Chapter 5

I woke up the next morning with sunlight hitting my face from the window. My body resisted the urge to get up at first. I was still tired, but I was surprised when I moved, my body was not sore. There was not a single ache in my body, and I found myself feeling a surprising respect for the fast-talking girl who came to visit me last night.



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Memoirs Of The In-Between: Chapter 5

Limbo School And Another Mr. Claus

About the Creator

Hope Martin

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