Chapter 192 192: Temporary solutions
“Ava, what can we do to save her?”
Rita’s mind was a mess. She had handed Natasha over to Aurora but her hands still felt the phantom weight of the princess in them.
This was not supposed to happen. Natasha was not supposed to be the one to pay this price.
‘I should be in her position. I was the one who created this mess. I ran in here without thinking of the consequences and I was also the one who broke their seal first. It should all be me.’
Rita did not like pain but she did understand responsibility. She knew that this situation was her fault and someone else was suffering in her place.
“AVA, ANSWER ME.”
Moreover, Aurora sounded rattled. This was the first time Rita was seeing Aurora lose her cool like this. Natasha’s fading life force certainly had something to do with this situation.
‘She was not with us for long but Natasha was a part of our family. I still cannot believe that her soul is fading this fast.’
The corruption was not only affecting Natasha’s body but her soul as well. Almost half of it was already gone.
‘Even if we save her now, it will be no good. Natasha is not like Aurora, she cannot keep holding on for long.’
Rita knew how lucky she had gotten when she had Natasha protect her. The redhead would not have been able to resist the allure of the corruption for long anyway.
“I cannot help. If I could help with the corruption then I would have helped you already. The only reason Natasha was able to survive this long was that she had previous experience with corruption.”
Ava’s explanation was sounding all logical. Her voice didn’t sound either sad or angry at the situation.
“Ava, I did not ask you for help. I am demanding for you to help me out.”
Aurora’s voice was low and scary as well. Rita was sure that her eyes would be blazing with anger if she happened to look up.
‘She is shaking as well. I don’t think Aurora is taking this situation as well as she should be.’
Rita could read Aurora like a book right now and she knew that Aurora was blaming herself for the things Natasha went through.
“Fine, I guess it does me no favor to hide things from you so I’ll tell you what you can do to help Natasha. However, you should be aware as well that the soul she lost cannot be saved. You should brace yourself.”
Ava sounded almost bored while speaking. Her detached tone made it seem like she had nothing to do with the situation but Rita could see past her facade.
‘She’s enjoying this chaos. This situation was exactly what Ava wanted from us but I cannot figure out why she wanted us all to be miserable like this. What is she planning exactly?’
Rita could have opened up her mouth and exposed Ava then and there. But Ava’s sly eyes met her and the teasing smirk on the overlooker’s face looked confident.
Ava knew that Rita would not say anything against her right now. Rita could not afford to miss any hint about Natasha’s welfare.
“Well, the answer is simple – you need to let Natasha’s soul merge with someone else. Her body is like a broken tap and unable to hold her soul in. Soon it will all fade away into nothing.”
“But corrupted souls cannot enter the cycle of rebirth by normal means and Natasha will certainly end up as a monster if you allowed her to die.”
“So the only thing you can do for her is to have someone cut out a part of their soul and take in Natasha’s healthy soul into their body.”
Ava made it sound so simple while Rita knew that it was anything but simple. A soul was like a patchwork of cloth, it could function as an entity or as smaller pieces.
But to take another soul into your body was an invasive feeling. One needed to give up an equal part of their soul to achieve that effect.
But the biggest reason that this was a foolish dream was that the souls that were undergoing merging needed to be compatible.
These conditions sounded simple in hearing but they were far more complicated than anyone could imagine them being.
“Is that the only way? Then, let me do this. Natasha did all this because I dragged her into my mess. So I need to be the one to take responsibility for it.”
Rita’s insides felt frozen when she heard Aurora’s declaration. It was solid and filled with intent.
‘She would go along with it. I cannot allow Aurora to go along with this madness.’
“N…No. D…Don’t do t….that.”
It was a wonder that Natasha managed to open her eyes at that time. Her eyes likely were not able to see anything right now but she still managed to drag herself up.
“I d…don’t want to b..be a p..p…part of Au…ro…ra.”
“Don’t be foolish Natasha. You are fading fast and you don’t need to be a part of me either. I can give you parts of my soul to scrap yours together.”
Aurora’s second offer was even more outrageous than the first. Rita felt her anger and helplessness rising inside her.
But she also felt her resolve to tighten.
“Let me do it. Natasha, we’re similar in our interests enough that I feel comfortable taking your remaining soul inside me. Besides, my soul has surfer damage due to corruption as well so I need to cut it out.”
There was a reason the corruption had no solution. The more powerful a soul was, the harder it was to find a compatible one to match it. Aurora’s current soul was too much to be rescued while using this method.
But Rita and Natasha were different cases. They could hold on to this method while their group finally finds an elf.
“I agree as well. This is not a permanent solution and it would be better for you all to find a Nymph or an angel soon but your soul should hold on for that long.”
Aurora was outnumbered. Even she had realized by now that the other three would follow through with their words no matter what Aurora said to them.
“Fine, do what you want to but stay alive by the end of it.”
Aurora finally gave in and Rita felt her breath ease out. The most difficult part of their problem was dealt with now.
“Give the soul capsule to me. I would need it to help mend their souls. You can take a nap in the meantime or knock yourself out. Once we are done, we can head back to the surface. I got the thing we needed down here.”
The group had a lot of questions but they were exhausted physically and mentally to ask Ava what and how she achieved their goal.
“Things will be alright now. Leave everything up to me and relax.”
Rita felt a shiver run down her spine at Ava’s words. She did not want to trust the overlooker but she had no other choice but to trust her.
‘This sucks but I guess it is better than dying. I hope this process is painless.’
Point and fact – the soul mending process was not painless. But Rita did feel better after she was done. She could feel Natasha’s soul and her desire running inside her body.
“Hey, can I ask you a favor? Rita, can you fuck me right now? I just need to reassure myself that you are still here.”
Rita knew she should not give in to Aurora’s demands but she was a weak woman. Natasha’s desires inside her soul did not help the matter and Aurora ended up surrendering in the end.
“Sure. I will show you a good time tonight.”