Refragmentz: Souls of Memory

Chapter 10- Saint

The whole Great Hall went silent after Saint Elara said that. Nobody moved, and nobody said a word. I think even the banners on the walls stopped swaying.

I tried to speak, but my throat was too tight. My mind was still full of her voice, the one that had sung me to sleep so many times in my first life. It was the same voice. I was sure of it, no matter how many times I told myself to be careful.

"Saint Elara," the Grand Master said slowly as he leaned forward on his white stone seat. "What do you mean by that? Do you know this knight?"

"I do not know him," Elara said. Tears were still running down her cheeks, and she wiped them with her sleeve like a child. "I have never seen him before today. But I have dreamed of him for as long as I can remember."

The nobles began to whisper loudly. Duke Marren stood up again and shouted, "This is a trick! The demon has bewitched the Saint as well!"

"Silence, Your Grace," the Grand Master said coldly. Then he raised one hand. "This trial is suspended until tomorrow. Clear the hall. Commander Hale, Chase Ardent, the demon, and Saint Elara will come with me to my chamber."

The knights began to push the crowd out of the hall. Vexa walked close beside me, so close that her shoulder kept touching my arm. I did not think that she did it on purpose. She was staring at Elara with a strange look on her face, as if she was trying to solve a puzzle.

"Chase," she said quietly, so that only I could hear. "Your buff went up again, did it not? I could feel it."

"You could feel it?"

"A little. It was like a warm wind that passed through me." She looked away. "Is that woman... also like me?"

"I do not know yet," I said honestly.

She did not say anything more after that, but I noticed that her hand was holding the edge of my sleeve, and she did not let go until we reached the chamber.

The Grand Master's chamber was a round room at the top of the tallest tower. There was a big window that showed the whole city, shelves full of old books, and a low table with a pot of tea. The Grand Master sent the guards away and closed the door himself. Only five of us were left inside, and I could not help feeling that this was more dangerous than the trial.

Elara sat down across from me. She did not sit like a Saint at all. She sat like a girl who did not know where to put her hands.

"Forgive me for staring," she said softly. "May I ask your name?"

"Chase," I said. "Chase Ardent."

"Chase..." She repeated it slowly and put her hand on her chest. "That is strange. I have never said this name before, but it feels like I have said it a thousand times."

I had to look down at the table for a moment, because I did not want her to see my eyes.

"Saint Elara," the Grand Master said, "please tell us about these dreams."

Elara nodded. She took a deep breath and then she started to talk in a quiet voice. She said that in her dreams, she was standing in a burning place with a tired man who had brown hair and gentle eyes. He was holding her hand very tightly, and he was crying, and he kept saying that he was sorry. She would sing to him, and she would tell him not to be afraid. Then the sky would break apart, and she would wake up with tears on her face.

"I have had this dream every night since I was seven years old," she said. "That was the year that the priests found me on the steps of the temple. I had no name and no memory of my family. They gave me the name Elara, and they said that the gods had sent me."

"Seven years old," Vexa said suddenly. Everyone looked at her. "That is also the year that I woke up in the demon capital. I did not have a name or a family either."

The Grand Master's eyes narrowed. Commander Hale, who had been standing silently by the wall, folded his arms and murmured something under his breath.

"That is a very strange coincidence," the Grand Master said.

"I do not think it is a coincidence," I said.

I took a deep breath. I had been thinking about whether to tell them for a long time, and I knew that this was the moment. I told them about my first life, as much as I dared to say. I told them about the farm, the war, the end of the world, and the woman named Selene who had died in my arms. I told them that the gods had heard my prayer and sent me here, and that the demon commander and the Saint both looked or sounded like her.

When I finished, the room was completely silent. I did not know whether they believed me or thought that I was crazy.

"That is a very difficult story to believe," the Grand Master said at last. "But that is exactly why we have a Saint." He turned to Elara. "Child, did he speak the truth?"

Elara closed her eyes for a moment, and her lips moved as if she was listening to a very faint sound. When she opened them again, she smiled sadly.

"Every word," she said. "His soul is much older than his body, Grand Master. I can hear it. It is tired, but it is honest."

The Grand Master leaned back in his chair and let out a long breath. He looked at Hale, and Hale only shrugged, as if to say that he had already believed me a long time ago.

"Then I suppose I must change my judgment," the Grand Master said. "Chase Ardent, you are found not guilty of treason. The demon Vexa will remain in your custody, under an oath that you will swear before me tomorrow. If she harms anyone, you will answer for it."

"I understand, Grand Master," I said, and I bowed. Beside me, I heard Vexa let out a very small breath, as if she had been holding it for a long time.

"Thank you," she whispered, so quietly that I almost did not hear it.

I thought that was the end of the matter. But Elara had not moved from her seat. She was staring at Vexa with wide eyes, and her hands were shaking a little on her knees.

"Chase," she said slowly, "there is something else that I must tell you. I did not want to say it in front of the court."

"What is it?"

"In my dreams, I am not alone." She looked down at her hands. "There are others. I can feel them, far away, like threads that are tied to my heart. One of them is very close." She looked up at Vexa. "I think it is you."

Vexa froze. "Me?"

"And there is another in the north, burning with violet fire. And others, so many others that I cannot count them." Elara's voice trembled. "Chase, I do not think the woman you are looking for exists as one person anymore."

The room felt very cold, and my whole body went numb.

"What do you mean?" I asked, and my voice did not sound like my own.

Elara looked straight into my eyes, and I saw something in them that was both Selene and not Selene at all.

"I think she was broken into pieces," she said. "And I am only one of them."