Lying in his room, Nox let out a disgruntled sigh. He had cleaned up all of the black liquid that had stained his skin, having just awoken from a good rest, the picture of a heap of black wriggling flesh lingering in his mind.
He reflected on it in somber silence, his arms spread on his bed, his eyes fixed on a spot on the ceiling—a frightening yet intriguing experience that lingered in his thoughts, the aftertaste bitter with a certain sweetness.
Thinking back to the blackened golden thread, the only one of its kind, did the color foretell that Elisa would die soon, or did it have something to do with the other…?
Trailing of, at the mere thought, trying to distract himself with the first option, the latter's implications sending shivers down his spine.
The decay of the surrounding strings, whether directly or indirectly, might indicate that the connections built up over Elisa's life were falling apart, future interactions growing less frequent, that his connections were being cut.
This seemed logical, but then why did I... He end up as a black liquid blob?
Shaking his head, not intending to think more deeply about that... thing, or the circumstances surrounding it, fearing he had built up a connection he did not want to have.
Merely looking at it, through a string of fate had such effects, so who was to say that thinking about it did not have its dangers? Wasn't the mind far more closely connected to living beings than fate, so who could judge that it would not have any adverse effects?
Either way, it's not like I can do anything about it; talking to the Professor is more out of reach than ever before, considering what he had seen.
A cold sweat built up on his forehead every time Nox thought about the operating table Elisa had lain on before, imagining himself falling into such a situation.
And what was it about Raef? Whatever he or it was… Nox had always disliked the fellow; this instinctive aversion had turned into a strong fear after what he had seen in Elisa's past, and the callousness with which he was disregarded. Nox truly wanted nothing more than to leave this place as soon as possible after seeing all the happenings, which planted a seed of paranoia in his very being. Knawing at him.
Laughing at his own powerlessness self-deprecatingly, Nox thought of another problem if one could call her that… Trisha.
She truly helped this time. Well, she was also the reason why the situation became so complicated in the first place.
Dont people say the thought counts?
How was he to explain himself? This was a headache-inducing problem for him, but truly, how could he explain himself? Telling her the whole truth would be easy, sure, but was Nox really ready to put his fate into another's hands?
He had never been the most trusting type, so letting her decide what to do with his secrets wasn't an attractive idea, even if he enjoyed her company quite a bit.
What else could he do, tell a lie, while I'm the lesser learned party of the two? This didn't seem like the wisest choice; it could simply lead to offending her, and who knew what would happen after.
Nox liked to believe that she wouldn't do anything rash, but he couldn't be sure, and, even more, reading her was always quite difficult, vexing, and, at the same time, intriguing to him.
Am I so intrigued by the unknown that such attributes attract me?
Chuckling internally at his own musings, he thought about other options.
Then there would be the option of half-truths. Many a time, the best lie was a misleading truth, and Nox leaned towards this option, as people tended to believe what they came up with themselves. However, there was nothing perfect; this method had its flaws; it was more difficult, and if she tried probing and poking around, which was very like her, it could lead to more being revealed than he was comfortable with.
The thought of reading her fate flashed through his mind before being suppressed a second later. He still hadn't fully recovered from his last glimpse, his mind still strained, and his Notium reserves, which his body would one day run on, were half empty. With its return came the lesser version of his ability; luckily, the full extent of it was not activated this time, allowing his brain to rest at least for now. With no one around, the only strings were those that connected him to others, and that one…
Looking up, Nox saw a new, string, dark like the night, extending straight through the ceiling, to some unknown place. Having wasted an hour staring holes into the place where the dark string disappeared to, almost diluting himself into believing that the ceiling would eventually open up before him, a dark harbinger of death descended to collect his soul.
He had done it this time.
Letting out a deep sigh, Nox stood up, intending to clear his head.
He had stocked up on many small hobbies to pass the time and let his mind rest, distracting himself so he could better solve problems at hand.
Practicing the control over his marionette, weaving intricate patterns with his threads, or simply staring at the ever-falling golden web in his soulsea.
Going with his gut, Nox entered the soulsea, falling backward. A breath later, a thought emerged: as he was already there, he could take care of his daily quota to quicken the progress of the Soul's assimilation, well, he'd have to hold back a bit, since his reserves weren't quite full.
***
Opening his eyes, a golden web above, Nox did not attempt to stand up, lying down in the shallow water, motionless, his ears drenched in the lukewarm water, a calming sensation spreading through his mind and body.
The entire soulsea was silent, no ripples disturbing its tranquility. Normally, this was not the case. Every human interaction, emotion, or thought sends mountains of information to the soul and mind, creating constant small ripples throughout the entire sea, forming many ripples of differing sizes.
Imagining the commotion when he was foolishly attempting random experiments made Nox chuckle, as he lost himself in the sight before him. Golden strings creating a ginormous web above, were these strings just like the ones outside, a tiny part of the greater tapestry cut and compressed?
Tracing the stings, some of them had that pale white core that Nox saw when watching the connections between him and others. There had always been some of these, but they seemed to have increased in number, making up a fifth of all the threads, with one in particular a bit larger than the others.
Creating a vague pattern of a golden eye, with a few eye-catching pale outlines, worming their way into the pure gold.
Does that mean I have grown more sociable, or that I had been so bad in this prospect before that a few more interactions have led to this outcome?
"Hm, hm, hm."
He felt a thin breeze of water gently hitting the top of his head, interrupting his calm, swirling thoughts.
Frowning slightly. This shouldn't have happened. Did something happen to my body?
Despite this, Nox remained calm—the soulsea had always been his quiet, safe haven. A place where he could fully relax. Still, unease crept in, and Nox considered leaving the soulsea to check on his body.
The ripples weren't big, but they were there.
"What's making you chuckle like that?"
"I was imagining what happened in here while I was creating chaos outside."
Wait what!?
Jumping up, Nox looked back to see a man standing in front of him. Whats happening.
"Who are you! Why, how are you here!?"
In front of him stood a man in a robe of fine white silk, with glistening, smooth, silky hair that reached his shoulders, parts of it bound up, clearing his face, where a pale yet healthy skin tone, smooth yet sharp facial features, and black pupils, just like Nox's, were.
As a whole, they looked suspiciously… alike.
"Calm down, please, I'm not here to hurt you. Or us?
I'm a bit confused, to be honest. I just woke up a bit ago."
Speaking in a bit of a helpless tone, the man—who had the same height, stature, and face as Nox—waved his hands, not knowing how to express himself. Clearly, having even less experience in conversing than Nox himself.
Still on guard, Nox asked in an agitated tone.
"What are you?"
"Ahm....I'm not sure about that?"
Nox's thrown deepened.
"Why are you here?"
Pulling at his collar as if loosening it to give him more fresh air, he spoke a bit embarrassed.
"Ah...Ahm, I'm not too certain about that either."
"Can you tell me anything?"
Seeing a light bloom in his eyes, as he spoke excitedly, straightening his clothes a bit too meticulously.
"Yes, yes, I have a theory about what happened?"
Stopping as if in wait for praise, a certain naivety in his every word was shown clearly.
"And?"
"Ahm… I think you—we might have underestimated how badly looking into the full expanse of fate has messed you, or to be precise, us up."
Now fully annoyed, Nox asked.
"Can you just spit it out already?"
A bit startled by the tone, he spoke hastily, his tone similar to a child just scolded by a father.
I-I think your consciousness, well... cracked when you looked into fate, and to keep you alive, the fragment might have tried holding you together to keep the host alive, which saved you, but also birthed me… maybe?
Nox stared at him—at himself—unsure how to even process the idea. For an instant, cold fear crawled up his spine, prickling along his skin. He wanted to scoff, to deny it outright, insisting that it couldn't be true, but some awful logic made the theory seem disturbingly plausible. Anxiety twisted in his gut, mixing with a reluctant curiosity. Was this really the fate of those who gazed too deeply, to fracture and create a living echo? The thought made his chest tighten, a bitter taste lingering in his mouth as he tried to rein in sudden, desperate questions. What if he was never the same again? Or worse, what else lurked in the shadows of his own mind? Or was all of this simply a fantasy tale the man before him was weaving, constricting him in a web of lies like he planned to do with Trisha?
Nox did not believe this theory; he did not want to, but in all honesty, Nox could not disprove it. To add on, Nox would never go to the Professor about it, especially after what he saw in the vision.
And, if he was honest with himself, Nox might have been extra doubtful of him since the guy was invading his safe place. It might be true, after all, since the man didn't give off too dangerous vibes and his appearance could be explained that way, but there was something off about him; however, Nox couldn't say what it was.
"Then now what? How are we going to continue? Can I just reabsorb you then?"
Showing no signs of fear, he answered in a calm, but somehow clumsy tone.
"I'm not entirely sure about that? How about we start with names? It would get quite confusing and degrading to simply call me Noctis or Noctis two, right?"
Nox had not even thought about that. What should they call the mix of fate and himself?
"Any Ideas?"
"Maybe something connected to fate, like Oruborus or something like that?"
"Hmm.. well, sure."
Well, it sounded a bit edgy, but you do you, I guess. Slowly relaxing, Nox considered the positives—having Oruborus in his soulsea seemed practical, if one ignored the risks.
"Any Ideas on the Trisha situation, and can you take over the job on this side?"
Seemingly falling into thought, he answered after a few seconds.
"Well, she seems quite trustworthy. How about telling the truth? Maybe I can, but sure I am not."
Where is your suspicion and doubt in humans? Aren't you supposed to be partially like me? Well, it was true that it was an option, maybe staying mostly truthful is the right way, simply staying silent about some of the information.
"Well, thank you, I'll take your advice to heart."
As if.
Seeing a happy expression on Oruborous's face, Nox was a bit stupefied. Why are you grinning so idiotically? Was I once like that? No, that doesn't seem right, I have always been... maybe not.
Seeing Oruborus stretch out a hand, Nox went on alert, flinching back.
"On a good partnership, right?"
Seeing this, Nox's gaze flickered between the face and the outstretched hand. Hesitating for a short while before Nox took Oruborus's hand, the image of Raef's hand flashed through his mind, overlapping with this scene.
"I hope for... a good partnership."
Oroborus, on the right, and Noctis, on the left, shook hands, illuminated by the golden light of fate, as they started their long partnership.