Novaris: Adventure in the Shattered Fang Continent

Arelion Siandel has been quietly watching his sister's life all his life. His existence has been odd and frustrating. He was a part of Jasmine as much as she was a part of him, yet she had been chosen to live life where he had been stuck as a silent observer.

Arelion felt everything his sister felt. Every smell, touch, and emotion were transferred to him. However, he could do nothing but accept everything without even having the smallest form of control over any of it.

At first, he had very literally consumed as much of his sister’s emotions as he could. After all, as a being with little self-control who could do nothing but feel, it would make sense that he would attempt to monopolize any and all feelings or sensations.

However, as Jasmine grew, so did Arelion. Even at a young age, his sister's keen mind very much transferred any knowledge she gained to him as well. That was how Arelion learned of the world and its wonders, which made him spite his and his sister’s existence even more.

Before, Arelion consumed without reason due to his unintelligent mind. However, as he gained knowledge, his consumption turned to one of malice. He despised his sister and whatever entity had created the monstrosity of their creation. So, with nothing but hate towards the world, Arelion looked to consume. It was his nature, just like the darkness consumes the light.

Years passed as Arelion consumed everything he could from his sister. Yet, no matter how much he consumed, there were always more things to feel and experience, making his task an endless one. And it wasn’t as if his impact wasn’t noticed as many in his sister’s life were concerned, mainly that redheaded friend of hers. That child he hated most of all. She was a wellspring of emotion that Arelion couldn’t simply drain. And if that wasn’t enough, the redheaded child simply lived life to the fullest, something his sister never did. He thought she was supposed to be the joyful one and should be out and about living the life he couldn’t.

More years passed, and Arelion matured alongside Jasmine. As he gained more understanding of the world and its complications, he eased up on draining Jasmine. The impact was noticeable but not as noticeable as he thought it would be. He could still feel just like before, but he no longer craved emotion like a drug. Arelion also knew that with him lessening the drain, Jasmine was able to truly feel again. The issue was that she was still shy and reserved. He had thought that the shyness was something he caused, but it didn’t seem to be, at least not entirely.

So, even though he was still annoyed at his existence and felt resentful toward Jasmine, he began investigating.

Something he hadn’t noticed earlier on was that he had knowledge that was not available to Jasmine. He knew about a goddess named Setiel and could feel a connection to her. Arelion also knew that his sister was connected to a goddess named Luxana, but he could not feel a connection to this deity. However, his sister clearly didn’t feel a connection either because if she did, she would not simply be some kid in an orphanage.

One day, after pushing and prodding the metaphysical place of their soul, Arelion found that their soul was sealed. Something had sealed their true soul with a fake one.

This knowledge had sent Arelion into a frenzy as he tried to break the seal. Sadly, his efforts were in vain, and the seal didn’t budge.

Now, whether it was a coincidence or not, Arelion is not sure, but after this frenzy, Jasmine began to change.

Her hair, eyes, and skin changed, which caused Arelion to keep bashing against their prison. Now, whether it was truly him or just the seal losing cohesion on its own, Arelion didn’t know. What he did know was that Jasmine was still changing, and he would keep trying to break out.

Arelion saw his sister's odd powers and how the changes were ignored. He didn’t know what was causing the people around them to act so strangely, but if he had to guess, he would say their seal was to blame.

Eventually, the changes were noticed, and his sister was taken to a different cleric. Arelion thought the idea was great as he agreed with Emeline’s want for a second opinion. Sadly, the new cleric did not find anything wrong, and Arelion couldn’t blame her. The issue was soul-deep, and Jasmine was unwilling to allow more tests.

After this visit, Jasmine was given a necklace that would supposedly protect her, but Arelion knew that the necklace would not work. The necklace stopped outside forces from acting upon Jasmine when the real threat was within.

In an attempt to warn Jasmine about the real threat, Arelion once again lashed out against this seal. To his surprise, it had worked. Arelion had managed to send a small piece of his consciousness to Jasmine’s psyche. Tragically, yet understandably, his sister only saw this as an attack on her and fought back. However, Arelion had come to love his sister. He had matured and simply couldn’t find it in him to blame her for something that wasn’t her fault. As such, Arelion kept struggling against the seal, which was weakening with time.

Time ever the one to march into the future saw as Arelion realized that whatever this fake soul seal was, it was as much an enemy to him as it was to Jasmine. Sure, Arelion was angry he could not enjoy life, but what truly angered him was watching as his sister was blocked from enjoying hers.

Where Arelion’s personality was destined to be that of a lone, calculating, and untrusting individual due to his nature and connection to the dark goddess, Jasmine’s personality was meant to be different. She was meant to be outgoing, friendly, kind, and emotional, as her nature and connection to Luxana dictated.

Yet, she wasn’t. She was a reserved and almost unemotional individual. And the seal was to blame.

To Arelion, it didn’t make sense. Why was this their fate? What had made them this way? Why was he trapped? Why was Jasmine trapped? These were the questions Arelion wished to answer. However, none of his knowledge gave him even a hint of an answer.

What did give the smallest measure of hope was a dream. It was their first dream. Though it hadn’t been more than some woman giving birth in a rather barren stone room, it was something. Something from their past was surfacing, making it even more evident that whatever this seal was, it was beginning to deteriorate, and their real soul was finally peeking through.

So Arelion stopped his constant probes and was content to wait for the right time to strike.

More time passed, and on their 16th birthday, Arelion felt just how weak the seal was. It had been deteriorating all this time, and as a result, more of their true Celestial nature leaked through and changed their body.

Having learned of the seal’s weakness, Arelion began to struggle more than ever. And to his delight, he could feel his consciousness slither through the cracks and enter Jasmine’s psyche. Disastrously, his uncaring actions seemed to harm his sister due to its violation of her mind as he intruded upon it. Not wanting to do any more damage, Arelion pulled back, giving her some respite.

Annoyingly, once the connection had been established, and with the weakening of the seal, it could not be broken again like last time. Even so, he tried to dull his presence, but whenever Jasmine thought about him and his presence, it would flare up as her own psyche dragged forward more of his consciousness.

Luckily, after she made it to her job, her mind eased up on thinking about the probing as it shifted to thinking about orders, names, and all sorts of random thoughts.

Annoyingly, Arelion knew that it was only a matter of time before something happened. He could feel the seal weakening bit by bit.

Finally, something did happen as the seal lost cohesiveness for a fraction of a second, allowing their soul's true power to burst forth and, along with it, his full consciousness unbidden invaded Jasmine’s psyche. This rush of power and mental stimuli caused his sister to scream as her mind shattered, and soon after, she promptly passed out.

Thankfully, the seal reasserted itself, and Arelion’s consciousness was once again imprisoned within their soul.

Sometime later, Arelion watched as Jasmine was taken to Sol’s temple. Jasmine then entered the ritual. Then, much like when Jasmine slept or passed out, everything went dark.

Moments later, Sol’s cleric woke them both, and Jasmine was told the information that Arelion had known all this time.

Afterward, Jasmine returned to the orphanage for a good night's sleep.

Catastrophically, or maybe thankfully, Arelion wasn’t sure which. They were both woken up by some elf Arelion had noticed around the inn every night. Arelion had kept tabs on him and another light blue-haired elf who was always there watching Jasmine. He felt like the two were up to no good, but without a reasonable way to inform his sister, he couldn’t warn her.

It was also no surprise to him when the elf released his illusion, revealing his silver hair and eyes. And Arelion quickly identified him as a Dark Elf who obviously served Setiel.

Sadly, trapped by dark chains and unable to scream for help, they could only listen to the elf's demands.

Arelion was surprised when he learned the dark goddess was searching for him. After all, couldn’t she feel their connection? Was their connection perhaps a one-way door? Or did their seal somehow block the goddess as well?

Helpless, Arelion could only watch and feel as his sister's mind was overwhelmed by emotions at the death of another. He could feel her struggle to break the chains and fight like a rabid animal as the warm blood touched their body. He could feel her sweet and caring mind shattered as she blacked out with grief.

Arelion had to do something—anything. So, he lashed out at their seal while channeling the power from his dark patron to tear the walls that had held him prisoner. His rage was as unfathomable as the darkness of the abyss, and he shattered the walls as his consciousness merged with his sisters, gaining control over their once unconscious body.

Now, for the first time in years, he could feel, he could act, and he would demolish the insignificant bug that had caused so much pain to her? To them? To him? He wasn’t sure anymore. All he knew was that the elf in front of them had to die.

So, Arelion reached into his soul and channeled the overwhelming power of the goddess. He could feel the pure mana burn his body from the inside as it also began to consume all their fears and emotions as fuel to unleash its power.

With the power, the dark chains were melted, and Arelion rose to face the scum in front of him.