The echo of boots against the polished wood resonated softly through the otherwise silent hall. The walls around her were lined with empty portraits. Velvet curtains hung heavy from the high arched windows, their edges frayed and collecting dust.
Inside Arnold’s consciousness, Izzy mulled over the image of the girl she had frightened earlier.
‘That girl… is not normal.’
Her thoughts lingered on Erin, the poor thing who somehow managed to simultaneously irritate and amuse her.
Leaving aside the girl’s poor vocabulary and speech patterns, a trait Izzy wouldn't complain about since she herself couldn’t read the language of this world, the truly unsettling part was how Erin immediately prostrated herself the moment the vessel’s voice accidentally slipped out.
Yes, accidentally! It wasn't intentional at all! The mature mind was a mature mind; she wouldn’t think of any childish mischief like that!
‘Hey!’
‘Ahahaha!’ Isa’s giggle slowly faded away from her mind.
Of course, Isa would find this funny. Izzy frowned at her young mind, but she didn’t reprimand her for it.
Returning to the main point, Erin’s reaction was like she had been conditioned since birth to cower in the presence of anyone who sounded above her station. It might come across as normal in this world, but as a person from the modern world, it weirded her out.
To be fair, Izzy had taken precautions. Although Arnold’s face had been burned beyond recognition, his dressing style and his voice could still be recognized by others.
So, she had intentionally dressed Arnold up in fine clothing so that the girl wouldn’t recognize him. This was an attempt to ensure no one would recognize Arnold and maintain his anonymity.
But she hadn’t expected Erin to mistake Arnold for a noble’s child.
Then again, what did she expect? The only garments available in this mansion were either filthy rags or exquisite coats trimmed with embroidery, as if the owner couldn’t decide whether to house beggars or royalty.
Izzy didn’t know much about this world’s hierarchy between peasants and nobility. The Steam Era was elusive to her, because no one would expect her to return to the past and learn such things beforehand.
‘Perhaps it is a common reaction when facing a noble?’ If so, the nobility in this world was more terrifying than she thought.
Izzy rubbed Arnold’s chin absently, feeling her fingers brushing against the uneven ridges of his burned skin.
This time, Izzy had frightened Erin on purpose.
After her recent discovery, she wanted to test how her energy absorption truly worked. So Izzy set up the stage, letting Erin awaken to Arnold’s horrific look, watching the girl’s terror bloom in her eyes like a flower of fear.
As expected, a small green mist spilled out of Erin’s body. It wasn’t much, just a tiny bit, far smaller than what she had absorbed from the four men she had killed.
Maybe the girl wasn’t scared that much?
Moreover, the amount of green mist she had absorbed when Erin realized Arnold was a noble was even greater than from when Erin looked at his face!
‘What an oddball,’ Izzy mused.
‘Izzy…’
You’re not much better, you know? Izzy could guess what Isa intended to say, but she pretended not to hear.
Anyway, the irritating part about using Arnold as a vessel was that—
‘It’s still stinging,’ Izzy thought, referring to Arnold’s burned face.
The burned nerves in his face still stung. His half-melted eyelid drooped lower every time she blinked, obscuring his field of view.
Luckily, she could still use a weaker version of her abilities when possessing someone. Her Field Vision could extend to a maximum of 15 meters, and using it together with her intact eye would make her vision clearer.
By layering that with Psychokinesis, she could manipulate small objects in the same radius. It wasn’t perfect, but it made her feel confident enough that no normal human could take her by surprise.
Arnold’s physique wasn’t ideal, but it had its advantages. She moved the vessel left and right, trying all sorts of actions: running, punching, and so on. Although he lacked brute strength, his agility, derived from his small frame, compensated for it.
Benjamin and Glen were gone. That was done. Now they needed to figure out how to deal with the Herald.
They knew too little about him. Too little to decide whether to stay and confront him or flee into the unknown world beyond this forest.
Arnold slowed his steps as Izzy pondered.
‘What do you think?’
‘Let’s leave this place!’ Isa raised both of her arms. This girl was as enthusiastic as ever.
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‘Mmm.’ Izzy nodded lightly.
It's good that Isa had no lingering attachment to this mansion anymore.
To remain posed a clear danger, yet to depart carried its own set of difficulties.
This was why she had told Erin to leave. It wasn’t safe here, and they had no luxury to babysit a fragile peasant girl.
But if Erin refused to go… Well, that was her own decision, and Izzy would respect that.
Just don’t expect them to protect her later. Isa might pout, but Izzy didn’t care about that girl; she didn’t need a weight to pull them down. Their top priority right now was to escape this mansion.
Based on the information she had obtained, the Herald would come on the day of the full moon. But when exactly was that?
Maybe Erin could answer that question.
Although Izzy didn’t trust her very much. They had just met, and how much could an uneducated girl possibly tell them about lunar cycles? She might not even know what “full moon” meant.
Still, it was better to have something than nothing.
For now, Izzy needed to focus on reconnaissance. She would need Arnold to scout the area and determine if it was safe to move their true body.
It didn’t matter if he died; their main body was still safe here.
‘Hopefully, there’s nothing dangerous out there.’ Izzy thought, as Arnold looked outside, his green eyes reflected the peaceful forest.
—
Inside their shared mindscape, a colorful space like a river of rainbows, Izzy looked toward Isa, her young mind.
"We just got more energy, so Isa wants to recreate more puzzles!" Isa exclaimed, raising both of her hands. Immediately, a wire puzzle popped into existence in front of her hand.
At the same time, Izzy felt her energy drain a bit, but it was just a tiny trickle, not much of a deal.
"Hmm, you’re me," Izzy murmured, crossing her arms and tilting her head. "But how are you so obsessed with puzzles?"
Isa giggled, spinning the wire contraption lazily with one finger. "Maybe I got it from you~."
Izzy sighed. Her young mind was truly obsessed with puzzles. Where did that hobby come from? Perhaps if Izzy had been born in a different era or a different country, she might have developed such a pastime herself.
She shook her head. No point in pondering that now.
"Let’s return to our vessels."
"Oke~!" Isa replied rhythmically, still fiddling with the puzzle until it dissolved back into mist.
Their mindscape faded. Both minds drifted upward, through the veil of the colorful sky, back to the real world.
Before venturing to the forest, Izzy wanted to do a little experiment with their vessels.
“Have you prepared yourself?” Izzy asked through Arnold’s mouth.
“I’m fully prepared!” Isa replied through the girl’s vessel.
“Then let’s test it.”
“Oke!”
Inside the attic, Arnold–Izzy’s vessel–stood at one side of the room. His scarred face was illuminated by the sunlight leaking through the window.
Across from him–Isa’s vessel–the green-eyed girl stood barefoot in the simple white dress, her long black hair cascading down her shoulders.
They faced each other, keeping a careful distance.
Arnold’s hands twitched. Slowly, Izzy raised his arms in front of him. Simultaneously, Isa, in control of the green-eyed girl, also raised her hand. They slowly walked toward each other, slowly, very slowly.
With each step, something stirred inside the vessel’s chest, rising like a wave of warmth. It was unfamiliar, yet at the same time, strangely familiar.
“I… Izzy, I’m feeling weird,” Isa’s voice trembled slightly.
‘...’
Izzy didn’t answer. Because she felt it too. This feeling…
Arnold’s face flushed red under his burned skin. His chest rose and fell faster, his palms grew slick inside the leather gloves, and the rasp of his breathing grew uneven.
Across from him, Isa’s vessel mirrored the symptoms. The girl’s green eyes widened, her cheeks turning pink as her breathing quickened. She clutched at her chest unconsciously, shifting her weight from one leg to another, her knees tightening together in discomfort.
Something was rising under Arnold’s crotch, and at the same time, Isa also found it increasingly difficult to keep her posture straight, a strange tremor running through her.
"Izzy…?" Isa meekly called out.
‘...’
Their vessels… were craving each other. And neither of them knew why.
Their steps faltered, then drew closer again, until they stood directly in front of one another, their hands slowly reaching out and finally touching.
“Hiss!”
“Ughhh!”
A sharp jolt ripped through both vessels at once, like an electric current surging straight into their minds. Their vessels recoiled, throwing themselves backward, desperately putting distance between them before collapsing onto the cold floor.
“Ha… ha…”
Arnold gasped, gripping his chest, breathing heavily. Sweat clung to his temple, running down into the cracks of his burned skin. He could feel something wet beneath his pants, but he didn’t want to admit it.
Similarly, Isa’s vessel sat slumped against the wall, equally breathless. Her dress clung to her skin as her breathing came in small gasps.
It was new to Isa. She understood what had happened, at least in theory. Their shared memories told her what that sensation meant, but this was the first time she’d ever experienced it herself.
The sensation was similar to absorbing the green mist, but utterly different in its core. It was more intoxicating, a sensation strangely both thrilling and relaxing.
“This is… not good,” Izzy mumbled through Arnold’s throat.
“Y-Yes?” Isa managed to reply between short breaths.
Arnold slowly sat up, running his gloved hand through his attire to collect himself.
“Let’s keep our distance from now on.”
It was a relief that they’d discovered this side effect early. Apparently, when their opposite-gender vessels got too close, something inside them reacted. It was like an urge to unite.
Izzy had noticed this before, when Jack and Isa had met face-to-face, but she hadn’t understood the full situation at that time.
They didn’t know why it happened. They didn’t even fully understand their own existence, so they certainly couldn’t comprehend this bizarre biological anomaly. Maybe it was because their souls were two halves of one whole? Was this another one of her weaknesses?
‘How many weaknesses will appear next now…’ Why did they keep appearing? When would they stop? Izzy couldn’t help but curse at her predicament.
“Izzy… Could we try that again?”
“No.”
“Oke…” Since her mature mind had warned against it, Isa wasn't eager to try it out. Maybe it really was dangerous, she thought.
As for Izzy, she could feel her young mind’s curiosity, but she refused to entertain it. Just thinking about it made her stomach twist.
What was this called again? Izzy couldn’t remember, but the idea of self and self, no way she would entertain such a notion. It weirded the hell out of her.
Controlling Arnold, Izzy made him stand up and brushed the dust off his coat. He then turned toward the door, leaving Isa alone, still panting on the floor.
‘Don’t think of doing anything weird,’ Izzy warned through their shared mind.
Isa pouted softly. ‘There’s no privacy here…’
‘Tch.’
Izzy rolled her mental eyes and retracted her mind from Isa’s perspective. Whatever Isa decided to do next, it was no longer her problem!
This Theatre of Memory could recreate any scenes, events she had experienced, provided she allowed it to play. By using it, they could study their past interactions and examine crucial insights through the dual lenses of both her young and mature minds.
Although, there were some limitations: if, in their original experience, they hadn't consciously focused on an object, that object would appear blurred and indistinct, like a mere background detail, things you don't usually notice.
These blurry spots sometimes served as helpful clues about what they had missed. By revisiting the scene in the "real world" later, Izzy could discover what they had overlooked.
And, Izzy could also watch Isa's perspective. Her young mind, not as worried or focused on facts as Izzy's, often perceived details that Izzy herself had disregarded. Occasionally, the very words spoken by others would differ slightly in Isa's memory, unfiltered by Izzy's assumptions or emotional state.
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