>>6002677“No.” you say, Haathe's head jerking up off the ground. Looking at you with a shocked expression. “I appreciate the sentiment, but no.”
“My lord...?” she asks, sounding not only worried but hurt. “D-Did I do something wrong? Is mine service not to thine liking?”
“No no, you misunderstand me.” you say to her, reaching out and placing your hand on her head. “I didn't save you just to keep you around as a servant or slave. I saved you so that you may live.”
“I...Do not understand.” she responds, her confusion written all over her face. “Does thou wish to send me away?”
“No, nothing like that. It's the opposite, in fact.” you tell her. “I saved your life, yes. But that doesn't mean the rest of your life is now mine. Should you choose tomorrow to leave, to go out and explore this wide universe I'd wish you luck, and you'd always have a home here to return to, should you choose. But despite me sharing my power, the Berserker Soul with you, you are not bound to me.”
“But... Thou chose to share thine own soul. To give of thyself to me.” she replies, confused. “Despite wielding another soul, one that thou hast yet to consume.”
At this she reaches up, pressing a finger to your chest. Where you can faintly feel the twinned lurker souls residing within you.
“Thou chose to give of thyself, instead of that other soul. One that would have meant no bond formed between you and I.” she says, brows furrowing a bit. “But thou chose to instead bestow upon me of thineself. Why?”
“Well, honestly, the reason's two-fold. First, that soul was mine. I earned it, then had it stolen from me. I wasn't giving it up so easily.” you tell her, Haathe nodding along. “But, second, I wasn't sure it would work even with those souls twinned. But I did know that my Berserker Soul had more than enough power.”
“How...Were you sure?” she asks you, now sounding more genuinely curious.
“Simple. Because the Berserker Soul possesses the power to completely overwhelm that darker soul you one held a fraction of.” you tell her, remembering back to your hopefully final fight with the Demon God Dumplin. How you'd used the power of the Dark to defeat him, only to then reclaim your Berserker Soul and use it to consume that Dark entirely. But, as you think back, you can see her expressions change. Almost as if she could also see it.
“So... That is why this power feels so familiar.” she says, pressing her hand to her chest. Where, for just a moment you see a flame identical, though much smaller than your Berserker Soul flickering. “With a soul strong enough to consume the entirety of what I was just a fragment of, there was no doubt thy power would be enough to save mine life.”
cont
