>>5989256“Impressive treasures, I'm sure my granddaughter would like all of them.” you say, Aku's eyes widening in anticipation. But you glance back again, seeing the terrified look of the child of the Abyss, and decide to ask another question first, turning back to him. “Say, Aku. You wouldn't happen to know if there's a way to reclaim that final piece of yourself without consuming that poor child, is there? You just need the last part of yourself, not the rest of her, right?”
“Karn? What are you-?” Meloka starts, Aku speaking louder, interrupting her.
“HWAA-? Hrmmmm. Well, I suppose I could try.” Aku says, pondering your words. “But for such a thing to be possible, she would need another soul. Another source of power, else she would simply fade away into nothingness. However, when I assimilate her, I could recreate the girl, bringing her back to life if that is your biggest concern.”
You nod to him, then turn back to the black-eyed child-like Abyssal. She still looks terrified, too scared to get up and try to run in the face of Aku.
“What do you think?” you ask her, the girl starting so bad she nearly falls over before she turns her gaze to you. “Do you want to be a part of him, then be reborn back? Or would you prefer to have the Dark taken away, and a new soul given to you?”
“I...I don't want to die.” she says, sounding scared as Caulifla rubs her back, your daughter shooting you a conflicted look. She clearly wants to save this child, to protect it, but also knows that she can't really do anything to stop how events unfold. “I want to live.”
“Alright, I'll see what I can do.” you say to her with a smile, turning back to Aku and gesturing to the hole he opened up in reality to his treasure vault. “You wouldn't happen to have another soul in there, would you?”
“Would I? That is a veeery good question.” Aku says, sticking his arm back into it and rummaging around. “Soul, soul, where did I put those souls? Hrmmmm...”
You all watch silently as he searches for several moments, then pulls his hand back out, empty.
“Unfortunately, I do not possess a soul of...Sufficient quality to keep her alive.” Aku says, sounding genuinely upset. Dammit, if only... “However, there is another solution.”
“Huh?” you ask as Aku leans in, not towards you, but towards your youngest daughter, Okira. Who has been watching this all go down silently. She doesn't back down from Aku, taking a deep breath and readying herself to say whatever she needs to say to use her Stand's powers defensively. But Aku doesn't attack her, instead peering close at her chest.
“Yes, that could work. YOU possess such a soul.” he says, turning back to you. Wait, what?
cont
