Infinity: Rising of the Soul Weavers

* Fairlane - Wildfire (feat. Nevve) *

"I've always tried to hide these strong impulses from Kayla, you know. And as far as I'm aware, she doesn't know... yet at least." Raven said with a deep sigh.

"But it's becoming harder and harder to conceal. Unlike before, now it's more than just the urge to devour any soul.

"Now, it feels as though I need stronger souls to be satisfied. And not just that, I- it's like... I want to kill, not because I have to eat, but just because I want to feel the blood splash on my face." she admitted with her head down, tears dancing at the edge of her eyes.

"Maybe I'm just meant to be evil after all..." she said as a lonely tear escaped her left eye. The same hazy look was still plastered across her face.

Just as Tu was about to speak, Raven had something else to say. "Oh, by the way since you do know a lot of things and all, here's a question for you: is it possible for someone to have a lot of souls inside of them, even though they're not aware of their explicit presence?"

"Can you please elaborate?" He asked as he didn't grasp the meaning behind her question.

"Well, to put it simply," she said. "According to my demons, I have given each of them thousands of souls as a sacrifice to bring them to the Human Plane.

"Even though I have some souls from the monsters I killed previously, I don't remember having that much. So, I must have a bunch of souls that I'm not aware of."

"I see." Tu said after a pause. "First, I want to assure you that what you're feeling is quite normal."

"Really?" Raven seemed almost hopeful. "Will I go back to normal?"

"Well, since you're aware of the fact that you're a soul weaver and not human, this should be easier to understand." He said. "Think of it this way; whereas humans go through emotional issues during their puberty, Soul Weavers go through issues similar to yours."

"Really?" She asked again, her voice wishful. She didn't want to keep up the facade in front Kayla. 'She is just a kind soul in comparison to me...' she thought to herself.

In a way, she felt like she'd end up corrupting her if she continues down this road, something that she wanted to avoid at any cost.

"Yes," Tu said with a soft smile. "Don't stress it much. Just try your best to stop your 'soul snacks' and you should get back to normal soon. Think of it as a strong and dangerous type of addiction that you need to stop.

"Make it so that you only consume souls when you absolutely need to, and not when you want to. I understand that it might be difficult, but it's something that you need to work on.

"Make use of the coming trip to lose any urges and focus on enjoying yourself. How does that sound?" He asked.

"Good," she said with a sigh of relief. "Thank you Tu!" she said giving him a quick hug. He was surprised but still accepted her with open arms nonetheless.

Taking a deep breath, Raven closed her eyes and slapped her face a couple of times in order to wake herself up.

"Go wash your face and maybe use the washroom, it was what you came to this floor for after all," Tu said with a smile as it was the truth.

If the three washrooms in the basement were not occupied at the same time, then Raven would not have been able to rescue Rachel's father.

"I'll wait here so I can walk you back." Tu finished.

"Ok," she replied with a soft, yet tired, smile.

Watching her enter the washroom, Tu adopted a serious expression on his face. 'So that's why the Deputy General wanted to test her; she's mentally vulnerable... very vulnerable.

'She can turn from the sweetest kid in the world to the most sadistic assassin in the universe, just within seconds. And she doesn't even have full control over these episodes.

'I wonder what she's been through, for her to be like this. The fact that she has an abundance of souls inside of her just doesn't make any sense...

'The only scenario I can think of is if someone had forcefully sealed souls within her when she was younger... just like how they sealed me within her...' the realization kicked in, yet it still made little to no sense.

'Why would someone do that? What were they trying to accomplish?'

*sigh*

'I have a bad feeling about this, too many things don't add up together. This means that these urges are most definitely more than just a passing stage...

'This might be worse than what it seems like...' he thought with visible concern. 'But for now at least, I must support her and try to keep her on track...'

Seeing that Raven was out of the washroom, Tu put on a friendly expression and greeted her with a smile.

...

Going down the stair leading to the basement, Raven had already put on a smile as if nothing had happened. And as promised, Tu was by her side.

"Did I miss anything?" Raven asked with a smile as she walked up to the group watching Mark wrestling with Henry.

"Actually, I think the right question is, what did I miss?" she asked while slightly tilting her head slightly to the left.

Even though Raven was afraid they might have heard something from the commotion she cause upstairs, her friends didn't seem to notice anything.

Plus, she was away for mere few minutes only, so her friends did not suspect anything.

"Oh, hi Rave, don't worry they're just practicing" Mike said while turning around for a second to give her a small wave. "HOLY SH*T!" Mike yelled startled. "Who is that?"

Hearing Mike's loud voice, the two boys on the ground stopped wresting and focused on the new face in the room.

"Hi!" Tu greeted with a light wave.

"Hiii!" Erika and Ainsley greeted back almost instantly. Realising that they had similar reactions, they both stared at eachother for a second before looking back at Tu.

"Um, so this is my friend," Raven introduced. "His name is Turanor, but we call him Tu. He's friendly don't be afraid to say hi." she mostly said to the boys that were skeptical of the new unknown face.

Looking at Mike, Raven found him staring at Tu in a weird way that made her shiver.

Slowly approaching him, "he has eyes you know, he can see you..." she whispered in his ear which made him jump, startled.

Realising he was being too obvious, Mike looked away for a second, before staring right back at Tu as if nothing had just happened.

Raven sighed and decided to let him be.

Watching Erika and Ainsley interact with Tu seemed to make the group more willing to talk to him.

"Alright, how are you feeling now?" Tu paused his conversation with the others and asked Raven.

"Oh, I'm alright now, don't worry about it," she said with a sincere smile. "Thank you for keeping your promise."

"I'm glad," he said with a similar smile. "And of course!"

Seeing the two talk together made everyone widen their eyes. Some "Aw~"s and "So cute~"s could be heard, but Raven wasn't particularly in the best mood inside so she ignored them.

"Alright everyone," Tu said, "I'll see you later!" With a smile, his body dispersed into thin air as they watched in disbelief.

Instant chatter filled the room after his departure. Although, the real him was inside Raven's mind now. The group didn't know, and Raven didn't tell them.

"You don't seem yourself," Rachel who was the only one that has ignored Tu, approached Raven and put her hand on top of her forehead.

This act was inspired by Raven's previous actions, back when she had suggested to drive her home.

But naturally, Rachel wasn't as confident as Raven so her cheeks turned warm rose the moment she touched her forehead.

"Oh thank you," Raven muttered in appreciation, "but I'm alright haha, you're the one who seem to have a sudden fever now." she joked.

Realising that Raven was indeed fine, and furthermore, she understood her plan to get closer to her, Rachel instantly retracted her hand and hid it behind her back. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to..."

"Haha don't worry about," Raven reassured. "I found it rather kind if that helps," she said with a smile that contributed to the increased redness in Rachel's cheeks.

Looking at the team, she realised they were still arguing about who Tu really was. Some had some really interesting theories...

Needless to say, Raven didn't like any of them.

"Ok, listen up!" she yelled with her melodic voice. Some people turned their heads towards her while others still didn't hear her.

Taking a deep breath, she was about to yell again when she decided to play them dirty.

Releasing a small amount of mana and retracting it quickly made everyone feel like someone just touched their souls.

It wasn't painful or necessarily scary. It was akin to a quick rollercoaster ride.

"So, can you all hear me now?" she asked with a smirk.

"Hell..." Mike muttered slowly as everyone stopped to listen to him. "Hell... is filled with people like you!" he said pointing at Raven who instantly burst out laughing.

"Alright, maybe that was too much, I deeply apologize," she said with a fake courtesy bow.

"Deeply sorry?" it was Remi who spoke this time. "How could you do this to us? I thought I was gonna die! It felt like the ground opened up and was going to swallow me whole!" she said emotionally, and everyone nodded vigorously.

"Oh no!" Raven said with fake concern, shortly before a chuckle escaped her mouth. "But anyway... let's talk plans!" she said with a clap of her hands to gather everyone around her.

It was a common practice when planning something in or before a game of soccer so everyone knew it was time they stopped playing.

Adopting serious expressions, they all watch Raven intensely. "Geez, chill out guys, we're just reviewing tomorrow's plans for the trip.." Raven said as everyone laughed.