Lackey's Seducing Survival Odyssey

Chapter 1173: Your soul...? No. From the beginning, it was never yours

Aether blinked in disbelief, his mouth slightly open when he heard Grace say she was going to teach him.

Was she serious?

He didn’t expect that. Not from her.

”...For real?” he muttered.

”Why are you looking at me like you’re shocked by what I said?” Grace asked, her voice tinged with annoyance, brows furrowing slightly.

Aether snapped back to reality and shook his head with a soft chuckle, rubbing the back of his neck. ”I mean... I kinda thought you hated me and all.”

Grace gave him a flat, deadpan look. ”So when I helped you with sealing the crack, and even gave you the rope... you didn’t question that, but now you do?”

Aether gave her a sheepish smile. ”Well... sorry?” he mumbled. But inwardly, he sighed, ’Those were your mistakes, idiot.’

Grace rolled her eyes and shrugged, ”Whatever. At least now you’re finally thinking a little instead of blabbering about Mary this and Mary that all the time. Sigh.”

Aether gave a genuine smile, warm and apologetic. He meant it.... Believe him!

Then Grace spoke again, her tone softer—almost as if she didn’t want to say it out loud, but did anyway.

”Well... the real reason I decided to teach you is... I’m curious. Curious about what happens if you’re able to supply energy to your soul. Your soul is unstable. Locked. And honestly... I’ve never seen anything quite like it in my life. That’s why.”

Her words lingered in the air, oddly personal.

Aether nodded slowly. ”So... what should I do now?”

Grace’s expression shifted instantly. She stood straight on the bar, her small frame radiating a sudden seriousness as her eyes locked onto his.

”When it comes to the soul, you need to handle it with precision. One mistake... and your soul might crack, or worse—disintegrate. But don’t worry. As long as you follow my every word, you’ll be fine.”

Aether swallowed hard. ’That sounded... intense, right?’ he thought nervously.

”Take a meditative stance.”

Aether nodded, placed the cage down carefully, and folded his legs, straightening his spine as he sat still with determination.

”Close your eyes. Now... what do you see?”

Aether opened his eyes again, confused. ”How am I supposed to see anything if I close my eyes?”

”...”

Veins popped visibly on Grace’s tiny forehead.

”Just freaking close your eyes and listen to my damn words, asshole!” she snapped.

Aether chuckled quietly and nodded, then closed his eyes again, now more focused... He definitely teach her asshole!

”Take a breath... then another... slowly. Remember... you’ve always been alone. Now... tell me, what do you see?”

His chest rose and fell steadily. Aether kept his eyes closed, and after a few seconds... something shifted.

When he opened them, not really, he opened his eyes... rather something else.

He was floating in an endless blank white space, his body pale and ghostly, almost translucent. He looked down—no clothes, just his bare spectral self hovering in the silence.

”...What do you see?”

Grace’s voice echoed through the space.

Aether flinched slightly, glancing around. ”I’m... in a white space. What’s happening to me?”

”Good. We are just cutting your consciousness one by one... to reach your soul. Now close your eyes again and repeat the meditation.”

Aether frowned slightly but obeyed. He floated down, crossing his ghostly legs, folding them beneath him. He shut his eyes and focused, breathing in and out...

...A few minutes passed.

”What.... do you... see?”

Aether opened his eyes slowly. Still in the same white space. But this time... his lower body was missing.

”I’m still in the white space but... shit, my legs are gone now?”

”Good... Now do... it again.”

He nodded hesitantly, closed his eyes once more, and repeated the process. Time passed slowly, a strange sensation of drifting, breathing, detachment...

After half an hour...

”W... hat... yo... see...?”

Aether’s eyes fluttered open. Still the same white space. But now only his chest and hands remained. Everything below the ribs had vanished.

His voice wavered slightly. ”Uh... my entire lower half is gone. Is... is this supposed to happen?”

”Keep... g...o...i...n...g...”

Her voice was weakening. The connection was fading.

Aether felt his nerves tighten. Still, he shut his eyes once more, feeling the last bit of his form crumble away...

Hours passed. He lost track of time.

”O...pe... e...e...”

He couldn’t hear the full word clearly, but something inside him told him what she meant.

He opened his eyes—slowly.

He was no longer in the white void.

Now he floated in complete darkness.

Aether exhaled quietly, a strange calmness in his chest... until he looked down.

”Fuck!”

His voice echoed violently as he gasped.

His entire body was gone.

All that remained was a small, hovering sphere—palm-sized, flickering with a mix of white and black flame. It pulsed with a strange life... and had two faint eyes embedded within it. The tiny flame even bore a familiar, ghostly resemblance to his own face.

”What the fuck?!”

He shouted, and the flame flared up in response, as if echoing his emotional spike visually.

Then it moved.

No—it was being pulled.

Dragged by something unseen and unnatural, deeper into the abyss.

Aether panicked, tried to resist, to stop himself from being taken... but he couldn’t. His will had no control here. There was no body to fight with.

He let out a shaky breath and gave in, allowing the strange current to pull him deeper and deeper through the infinite blackness.

Until finally... he saw...

A white door stood tall in the void... slowly parting open.

A bright light spilled out from within, illuminating the space with a gentle, almost divine glow.

Aether’s flame-like eyes widened with curiosity. The panic he felt earlier had faded—now, there was wonder in his expression. Rather than being dragged, he moved on his own this time, floating gently toward the door.

On his tiny fireball-like face, the curiosity actually made him look... kind of cute.

However—

Thud!

Something stepped out of the door. A shadowy figure. Tall. Entirely black, with a fully formed humanoid shape. It walked forward with silent authority and stopped directly in front of the glowing door.

Aether halted, frowning.

”Who are you?” he asked.

”...”

The figure didn’t speak. It simply stood there, silent and unmoving.

Aether’s frown deepened. He floated forward cautiously, trying to pass—but the figure raised a hand.

And stopped him.

”...This is my soul!” Aether barked, voice rising in frustration.

Still, the figure gave no reply. It stood like an immovable wall.

Aether’s flame flickered furiously.

”Fucker... it’s you, isn’t it? No. 27!”

No response. Not even a twitch.

With a growl, Aether surged forward, pushing ahead without hesitation—determined to find answers.

But then—

Thud!

The figure grabbed him by the flames—right where his neck would be. The grip was strong, unshakable.

”Get. The. Fuck. Out. Of. Here.”

The voice finally spoke. Low, rough, and full of hate.

Then—

Wham!

The figure kicked Aether like a football, sending his flaming soul spiralling backwards through the black space.

”Aaaahhhhhhhh!!!”

Aether screamed as he flew upward. The shadowy figure quickly shrank from view—or rather, he was flying too far, too fast. The space around him warped, turning white again. His shape shifted. The upper half of his body returned first, then his torso, then finally his legs—

Thud!

Aether’s consciousness slammed back into his body? within the twin domains, as if something had smacked him awake.

He gasped and panted, his chest rising and falling rapidly. Sweat beaded across his brow as he looked around, dazed and confused.

In front of him, Grace stood inside the cage, watching him with an amused expression.

”I see... so even your own soul didn’t want to connect with you? How interesting... you’ve got a strange one inside there,” she said softly, almost to herself.

Aether groaned and sat up, wiping his forehead. ”What the hell just happened? That guy... was he from—?”

”Yes. Your previous timeline,” Grace answered before he could even finish.

”You knew that?”

Her expression grew serious, her earlier teasing mood gone.

”I am the guider of souls. I see everything that’s ever happened to your soul.”

”T-Then that guy? What is he doing inside my soul?”

Suddenly, Grace started laughing—her voice laced with disbelief.

”Your soul...? No. From the beginning, it was never yours.”

Aether’s heart skipped. ”...What?”

”You’re not inside your soul...” she said, eyes narrowing, her tone strangely thoughtful. ”You are inside his.”

Aether was left stunned, unable to say a word.

Grace nodded to herself as pieces clicked together in her mind. ”I get it now. I finally understand. Even I—me, the supreme soul guider—still get surprised by souls sometimes. Unbelievable. But yes... now I understand why they were so obsessed with you. Or more accurately—your soul.”

”...I still don’t get it,” Aether said slowly. ”Can’t you explain it to me?”

Grace glanced at him, but her face had turned calm again.

”That’s for you to figure out. I only showed you the path.” She gave a half-hearted shrug and sat cross-legged on the bar, her tone completely relaxed again.

Aether’s lips twitched in irritation. He took a deep breath, trying to calm himself. He sat back down and resumed his meditation stance again, determine to find that fucker!

He had to find that bastard... Whoever was staying inside him without permission.

However—

”If I were you,” Grace said casually, ”I wouldn’t do it again. Not so soon. You might break your soul.”

Aether sighed in frustration, ’Then say it earlier, bitch...’ he thought, but kept his mouth shut. He knew she had helped him. He couldn’t complain.

...Could he?

Just then, Aether blinked, frowning. A strange sensation tickled his mind.

”Wait... someone’s calling me,” he muttered. His gaze shifted toward Grace.

She waved him off without concern. ”Don’t worry about me. I’ll be fine. If anything, get the hell out of here, asshole!”

Aether raised a hand, tempted to flick her cage... but stopped himself at the last second.

’Patience, Aether. Patience... sometimes it works.’

With a sigh, he vanished from the twin domain.

Grace stared silently at the spot where he had disappeared.

[+100 AP]

”He’s a fast learner,” she muttered.

...Aether’s real body stirred softly. His eyes fluttered open, blinking into the dim light of the room.

Nyx was still lying on his chest, her breath warm and steady, completely lost in sleep.

Thud.

Aether turned his head toward the window.

There—fluttering just outside—was a cute little bat, wings gently flapping in the grey light.

Aether smiled faintly.

’Lia...’