Soul Bound

The following morning, Joshua awakens to knocking on his door as Vilhelm yells through it. “Hey Joshua, wake up and come here.” Shaking his head in confusion Joshua gets up from his bed and makes his way to the door. Opening it up, he sees Saria pinching the bridge of her nose as the twins stand before him. “What are you guys doing over here, won’t you get in trouble? I remember him essentially grounding y’all before we all went to Blackwood.”

“Why would we be in trouble? Father gave us permission to drag you along.” Vilhelm grabs Joshua’s arm with a smirk.

“Wait what… where are we going?”

“It’s a surprise. Father was so proud of all of our progress and asked us what we wanted.” Vilhelm beams.

“He didn’t ask me what I wanted.” Joshua mumbles to himself as he is whisked away alongside his handmaiden against their will.

“Couldn’t I have had breakfast first.” Joshua whines to his handmaiden as she looks down dejectedly herself.

“Food can wait; you’re going to want to see this.” Wilhelm comments gently with a look of clear excitement on his face.

As they walk down the corridors, several advisors and housekeepers look on with pity as Joshua gets drug along by his notorious siblings still in his bed clothes.Looking down at his outfit, he sighs in embarrassment.

Eventually, they make their way to another stone door with an extremely large lock and key hole. Circular panels of copper and iron line the door and its trim. Wilhelm pulls out a large brass key about eight inches or so from his pocket as he plugs it in and feeds his aura into it as he turns it. The sound of gears grind as the door makes a large creak and fills with a green light. As it pops open, a plume of dust blows out from the sealed room. As it hadn’t been used in years. Joshua gets a face full and starts to cough as he turns away from his siblings.

“By Serox Wil, warn me next time.“ Covering his mouth, he lets out a breath. As Saria pats his back.

Making their way inside, the twins rush ahead looking around at all the old equipment. “This is an extremely large storage room, what did they want to come in here for?” Joshua thinks to himself as he looks at Saria with a yawn.

Rummaging through the boxes, Wilhelm and Vilhelm start pulling out old knighthood gear and antique looking weapons.

“Guys this stuff is ancient, what did you need me here for? I could have slept in.” Joshua sighs aloud.

“Josh just look a bit further back, we know you’re a book worm.” Wilhelm calls out as he plants an old helmet with horns on its sides firmly on his head. He turns to his twin and attempts to headbutt him, receiving a yelp in response.

“Josh…” Joshua’s left eye twitches as he shakes his head peering further back. Stepping inside with Saria, they witness multiple large bookcases filled to the brim. His eyes light up with glee. “Saria, come on I haven’t read a good book in years.”

He catches an odd look from his handmaiden being that all she’s ever known him to do is read books. She nonetheless follows her master with an old cart. Approaching the bookshelves, Joshua pulls and starts flipping through a few books that catch his eye, placing them on the cart. Saria, equally amused, pulls a few books down for herself. Pulling a book down about assassination that seemed to be at least two hundred years old. She tucks it inside of her outfit after dusting it off. A serious look crossing her gaze. Joshua happily grins at saria who turns away from him with a smile. “Glad to see you also found yourself something.” She blushes regaining her composure. “Of course, young master. I can’t let this opportunity go to waste.”

Eventually time comes and goes as an older knight clad in all black saunters into the room. The sound of his armor clanks and echoes out catching everyone's attention. Soon after, he lets everyone know that they only have about ten minutes left before the room is re-sealed.

With a smile on his face he looks over at the mound of books he’s collected. “This should keep me busy for a bit.”

“I’d hope so kid. That's a lot of books.” Draxis pipes up from within.

Ignoring Draxis he turns towards his handmaiden. “I’ll have to give the twins credit; this has been fun. I just wonder what the reason is that this place full of history is always sealed off. You would think that after all this time it would be opened up like the main library.”

“Likewise young master, as to why it stays sealed off… I believe that your father doesn’t trust anyone having access to it. There may be some undiscovered relics or documents that previous clan heads wanted to keep under wraps. You know how the overseers are after all. Bunch of brooding vipers lying in wait.” Closing her eyes, Saria lets out a quiet sigh.

With a smile Joshua starts heading towards the exit until his body freezes in place. His heart starts to palpitate rapidly as goosebumps spread across his arms and spine. His eyes immediately shift draconic. Turning away from his handmaiden he takes a deep breath somehow sensing something nearby. Activating his aura sense, Draxis takes over Joshua’s left eye.

“You sense it too kid?”

“Yeah, something here and I can feel it calling out to me. Let’s go find it.” places his hand over his left eye as his expression turns serious.

Closing his eyes, he sends pulses of aura out, he feels them bouncing back and forth across the room as they close in on a strange energy. Saria, knowing something is up with her master, bows her head and informs him that she’ll go ahead and head back to have something to eat prepared for him. Waving his hand she departs.

After everyone else exits the chamber, Joshua walks past tables and bookshelves having to squeeze between piles of ‘history’ as he approaches an old desk, Joshua moves a few boxes out of the way as he lays down. His head is now facing the underside of it. Immediately recognizing a sealing sigil, a giddy look crosses his face.

“Well then… I didn’t expect to see one of these here.” Imbuing his fingernail with aura, he cuts his left index finger as he traces the rune with it in reverse with blood.

In a flash, it lights up in a bright red before dispersing as a compartment pops open revealing a blue and black book decorated in shining sky blue and white dragon scales. Not paying much attention the two miss a soft lavender eye closing on the other side of the book.

“Kid, don't open that!” Draxis mentally screams out, feeling a presence within.

Opening the book, curiosity flooding his mind, a strange dragon-like ring tattoo etches itself onto his left middle finger as the book vanishes. Joshua feels a cold chill stretch across his palm as he drops to a knee clutching his head.

“The hot headed lizard… We’ll then, this will be interesting. Don’t mention me to your ‘master’ or else.” A cold feminine voice echoes in Joshua’s head as he feels chills down his spine. Faintly nodding his head the pressure releases.

“Damn it. Kid, do you feel okay? I don’t know whose essence was tied to that book.”

Closing his eyes and doing an introspection of his person he nods his head.Obeying the new mysterious voice. “I feel fine, Master. Just a head rush.”

“You don’t want to bind yourself to the wrong artifacts, kid. Some are demonic in origin, you should know what that means!” Joshua's face tightens as he touches his finger knowing it wasn’t demonic. It was similar to his master’s essence. “In any case, that book is now bound to you. If you focus your aura into it, it should re-appear.”

Joshua gets ready to test Draxis’s words only for the black knight from earlier to head over to escort him out. “I hope you found something interesting here, young Joshua. I’m surprised that the patriarch let you all in myself. I guess you three made him really proud. The last time anyone came in here was after your father had already taken over the clan headship.”

“I’m surprised, Leon.” Joshua replies with a soft tone recognizing the man’s griffy voice beneath his black mask “I guess I should also be thanking you for letting me use the old training grounds.

The older man grins beneath his mask before continuing. “No need, young master, I’d rather that it continue to be used rather than wasting away due to the overseer's decision making. You’re more than welcome to use it anytime you’d like.”

Joshua nods his head up and down in thanks as he makes his way out and back to his room. Behind him Leon reseals the door with the same key he collected from Wilhelm as its glow vanishes as the sound of a lock echoes through the hall. Looking around, Joshua tries to find the twins, but they’ve gone off somewhere else. “It’s so hard to keep track of them. I thought they would have waited on me when they dragged me out here.”

“I know that’s the truth.” An older man with glasses dressed in a large gray and red overcoat with black epaulets chuckles as Joshua nearly runs into him.

Joshua catches himself taking a step back. Looking up he sees the man, but doesn’t remember his name.

“Greetings sir, sorry about that I didn’t mean to almost run into you.” Joshua lifts his hand up in a sorry motion.

“Don’t sweat it, I was just passing by. It’s nice to finally meet you, Joshua. I’ve heard that you’ve made quite the stir with your stunts at Blackwood; I’m looking forward to seeing what you do next.”

“Thank you, sir, but might I ask what an overseer is here for?”

“Oh that, well the patriarch summoned most of us back as well as invited a few guests for the naming ceremony.”

Joshua shakes his head. “Not that, not to be disrespectful, I meant in this hall in particular. Normally the only people who hang out in this area of the estate are the knights.”

“Honestly, I was looking for you. I heard you were allowed in that age-old room. I was just curious about what laid inside.” A cocky smile rests on the man’s face as he eyes Joshua carefully.

“I guess I should assume that I have the overseer's eyes on me then.” Joshua looks down.

“Not just you, the twins as well. All three of you will be undergoing the ceremony together.”

Joshua’s eyes widen in shock. The overseer brushes off his coat arms with a smile.

“That didn’t happen last time. Hell normally guests aren’t allowed to watch any of the ceremonies either. Last time it was kept under wraps.”

“Don’t sweat it, all of you can manifest your aura properly. Just make sure to show off. Maybe you’ll even catch my attention. Maybe you can sway my support from Dialos. After all, strength alone isn’t all that's necessary to rule over a clan as vast as ours.” The older man winks.

“Thanks for the encouragement, sir. I’ll do my best. As for what was inside. It was a bunch of old books and artifacts from years gone by. Nothing of too much intrigue. I do have a bunch more reading material now though.”

“Thanks for that… Oh and call me Raphael.” The older man lifts his head up as his blond hair and amber eyes reflect off the lights lining the corridor.

With that Raphael takes his leave, his golden blade refracts light into Joshua’s eyes. Joshua’s left speechless as Draxis pipes up. “Be wary of trusting him, sounds like a turn coat to me.”

Joshua nods his head as that feminine voice whispers in his ears. “You can trust him, I can see it in his heart.” Making his way down the corridor and eventually to his room, he opens his door to see a meal prepared on his desk with a note beside it. Walking on up to it he begins reading it.

Hey Joshua, I had to go run some errands I’ll be back later. I left your books beside the door. As well as a proper outfit on your bed since we got strung along by those two. I hope you enjoy your lunch.

Sitting the paper down, Joshua grins as he sees everything she set up for him. “Thanks, Saria. I really missed you. Having someone to take care of all this is such a blessing.”

Taking a seat at his table, he lifts the silver lid off of his plate and it’s still steaming. It’s a nicely large sized whitefish that’s been de-boned and descaled. With a lemon herb sauce over the top. As well as a side of roasted greens and a spiced bread. The aroma tickles his nose as his mouth salivates.

“They’re actually serving me proper meals; I could cry from happiness.”

“I can tell the kid; I can smell it from here.” Draxis chuckles from within.

“You can smell now, Master?” Joshua jokingly questions.

Draxis snickers in a faux malevolence.“Yeah, for some reason the more I’ve borrowed control of your body the more of your senses I can feel. If we keep this up maybe I can just steal your body. ”

“Please don’t, I like having my own body thank you. Besides that,that’s interesting, but makes sense. How are you liking your temporary lodgings so far then.” Joshua cheekily grins.

“Could be worse, at least the pilot mostly takes care of himself. Aside from the self-inflicted damage.”

Joshua rolls his eyes.“Not my fault, that’s the only way for me to utilize blood magic. It's not my fault I don’t have mana. But until I can get strong enough to handle these threats with my aura alone, I don’t have much of a choice.”

Stopping the conversation with himself, Joshua begins to eat. Taking in all the complex flavors and spices. His cheeks blushing red along with his ears in pure bliss.

An hour later Joshua, after having finished eating, changes into a more suitable outfit. A plain black pair of pants and button up shirt that Saria left on his bed along with his boots. Grabbing his sword from its stand he sheathes it on his side as he heads out to the training grounds. Passing by Geoffry on his way out.

Nodding his head with a smile he lets the young master pass. Once on the training grounds Joshua continues the routine he set in place back in Blackwood: A nine-kilometer run, continued aura meditation, as well as swordsmanship practice.

About four hours later he finishes barely breaking a sweat. The terrain that he became accustomed to was much harsher than back at home. Due to this he finishes a few hours earlier than expected. So having finished his basic training he begins practicing his aura strikes, the red energy clashing with the stone walls putting indentations into them. As he’s getting into it, his hair flares up as a nervous servant approaches him. Shaking the sweat out of his hair, he stands before him; blade pointed to the ground.

“Young master Joshua, Wallace has called for you.” The servant replies while slightly trembling.

Wiping the sweat from his face Joshua smirks.“Let him know I’ll be there shortly then. I just need to tidy up a bit.”

“Thank you.” The male servant bows his head with a sigh of relief as he quickly makes his exit.

Draxis pipes up. “What was his deal?”

“Wallace is known to be harsh and very strict with his servants. But I guess that’s just par for the course. I’ve always been more relaxed. Albeit I’ve only ever had Saria.”

“What do you think he wants?”

Joshua shrugs his shoulders as his muscles tense up then relax.“There's no telling, aside from Jeras, my siblings never bothered me much. Well, Kirie causes some problems later on, but that’s beside the point. I guess let's move on.” Joshua nods his head as he takes another stop by his room to drop his blade off.

A little while later Joshua makes his way to a different wing of the estate. Everything is colored green and yellow. Joshua recoils at the sight, the color scheme hurting his taste in aesthetics. “It’s been a while since I’ve been here, but did he really have to make everything match, it looks so damn tacky.”

“So, he’s vain then?” Draxis replies equally disgusted by the color scheme.

“Very much so, loves to keep up appearances. I guess that's normal when you have multiple overseers in your pocket.” Joshua replies mentally.

Eventually he is greeted by two more servants who usher him into his brother's chambers. Once inside Joshua looks around, as a bunch of magical related artifacts are spread out in casings. As well as a large book shelf on topics relating to mana and magic circles.

Draxis' attention is immediately on guard seeing all the books. “Kid, why’s he so fascinated by mana?”

“He wants to crack the code and figure out how to use both, even if it goes against the natural order of creation.”

Draxis groans in annoyance.“Oh, okay then. That’s a strange fascination when Aura is clearly superior. If these children knew just how powerful their founder really was.” Joshua rolls his eyes as he approaches his older brother sitting in his chair. His dirty blond hair cut short matching his style.

He’s dressed in a large black, green and yellow overcoat. A brown button up and beige pants. And his dark wood desk is decorated with tiny golden ornamentation. “Hello little brother.”

“Likewise, Wallace.” Joshua bows his head in greeting. “What did you want to talk to me about?”

“I just wanted to check up on our youngest, I know that you may be a bit nervous about receiving your true name. We’ve all been there after all. I mean with the fact that three of you will be undergoing the ceremony is unheard of throughout our entire history.” Wallace gives a gentle smile.

Taken slightly aback since it’s been years since he’s spoken to his older brother, he stutters slightly but quickly regains his composure. “Thank you, Wallace. I appreciate it. But I’m only a little nervous; After everything that happened in Blackwood, I’m pretty confident in my skills now.”

“Well then, I’m looking forward to it. If you need anything you just have to ask. If I’m not around just drop a letter off to my maidservant. I’ll always be there for you.”

Joshua nods his head as he turns around and exits the room, leaving Wallace to return to his book. A strange layout of magical sigils and tethers lining an open space displayed within. “That was anti-climactic.” Draxis comments as he breaks the silence.

“That’s a good thing Draxis, I don’t want to cause a bunch of problems this time around. It would be easier to maintain the peace for now. After all, Wallace didn’t bother me too much last time.”

“Fair enough kid, so what about that suit you were telling me about yesterday?” Draxis chuckles, changing the subject. Closing his eyes, Joshua recollects on the conversation then shortly after re-opens them as he makes his way back to his quarters. “We’ll talk later.” After getting back, he just grabs a book from the pile and spends a few hours reading. Aside from this he has nothing else to do. So, for the next week leading up to the naming ceremony, Joshua continues his physical training and aura breathing, reading in his free time and spending some time with Saria.

—-------------------------------------

The day before the ceremony, Joshua is busy talking to his handmaiden as a parcel is handed off by one of the passing knights. “Young master Joshua, this is for you.” The knight bows his head as Joshua takes the package from his hands. The knight departs shortly after.

“Young master, what's in there?” Saria curiously asks with a grin.

“I’m not sure, let's open it up.” The two of them walk on over to his desk as he pulls out a small letter opener and cuts the parcel open. Inside there' s a letter as well as a pair of black and yellow gloves made of a reinforced material.

“Who does it say it’s from? Saria questions.

“Orthon.” Joshua chuckles out.

“The friend you made at Blackwood.” Joshua nods before trying them on, surprised at their perfect fit. Clenching his fists he throws a punch forward feeling the momentum. With a smile he picks up the letter.

“Perfect fit. Thank you, Orthon, I guess I’ll have to write a return letter at some point.” Saria nods her head in agreement.

Joshua smirks as Saria leans over his shoulder. “If you need any assistance with that, just let me know.”

Picking up the letter it reads:

Hey Joshua, it's Orthon. I recently had to head home and get my bags packed. Can you believe it, Gyles wants to personally train me. We’ll be going on a long journey, so he wanted me to let my parents know.

When I told them, my father lit up with joy. I haven’t seen them this ecstatic in a long time. Apparently, they know who Gyle’s actually is, apparently on top of being a captain at Blackwood he’s also a well-known nomad. I’m not quite sure why he was a Blackwood, but I’m not complaining. Now I don’t have to go to ‘basic training’ and spend my youth around regular soldiers.

I just wanted to let you know to keep getting stronger, so that when we meet again, I’ll show you who’s stronger. I declare you my rival Joshua Von Terra.

P.S. My mother made you some gloves once I told her I made a new friend, a direct son of the patriarch at that. They would love to meet you. Also, I hope you enjoy them. I told her the color scheme. ;)”

“Well then, geez.” Joshua rubs the back of his neck a little embarrassed, his ears turning a shade of red. Saria pats him on the back as he sits the letter down and stands back up.

“Tomorrow is the big day master, are you ready?” Saria exclaims, clasping her hands together in excitement.

“Of course, Saria. I just need to…” ‘Knock, Knock’ his door creaks. Standing up, Saria pauses their conversation as she unlocks the door. Bursting through with a look of urgency comes Vilhelm.

“Hey Joshua, can I talk to you alone? It’s a little private.” Vilhelms looks around the room as Saria nods her head and leaves the room, shutting the door as she leaves. Joshua raises his hand out to her. “Wai- Never mind.” Turning to face his brother his expression drops.

“What do you need Vil, normally you don’t come to me with any issues. Especially at this point in the day. Did you get in trouble with father?”

“Yeah, nah. It's not that serious or really an issue, but I want to go see the ritual site.” Joshua’s eyes widen. “What! We could get into a ridiculous amount of trouble if we go in there. Do you remember the rules father put in place?” Joshua argues in a hushed tone.

Placing his right hand on Joshua's shoulder, Vilhelm continues. “I know, I know, but Wil said you can make us invisible. No one would have to know.” Vil pleads his hands clenched together as he bows his head up and down repeatedly.

“What do you think about this, Draxis?” Joshua converses in his mind as he closes his eyes in thought.

“Sounds more interesting than just sitting around, I’d say go for it.” Draxis exclaims with a tone that clearly wanted to get into some trouble.

“I see.” Joshua mentally replies as he opens his eyes letting out a sigh, before sitting back down on his bed and crossing his legs. “Okay then Vil, what’s your master plan?”

Vilhelm smiles cheekily. “Just like at Blackwood, we’ll meet up around sundown. I’d assume that we would meet up here as I’d prefer to not let my steward know.”

“Yeah, that’s fine, you better have a well thought out plan.”

Vilhelm snickers quietly. “Sweet and of course I do, I wouldn’t have asked if I didn’t already have a plan. This has been in the works since we got back from Blackwood.”

Joshua pauses with a hand raised as he lowers a finger. Vilhelm, clueless to Joshua’s deadpan look, waves his hand and races out the door just as fast as he arrived.

“What is wrong with him…” Joshua sighs to himself as he looks at his left hand.

I guess I should get my bag ready. Maybe someday I’ll be allowed to have a break from those two.” Joshua shakes his head with a soft smile as he picks up his small knapsack and puts a few assorted items into it. Some thread, gauze, and two cloths that can be used as masks. After that he just sits it down by his door and goes off to continue his usual training routine for the day.