The Astral soul system-Chapter 125: Do you know?

Sable wiped the blood off her blade, looking at Chelsea who looked like she had barely expended any energy.

She wiped her nose that was beginning to get itchy from overstimulation, the dozens of bodies surrounding them, making her feel equal parts euphoric and uncomfortable.

"That was fun, right? Looks like i was right about you being tough"

Chelsea said cheerfully, looking at her chest and collarbone area.

Sable looked at what I she was looking at and groaned, slowly pulling out the knife that had managed to get through her attacks by pure luck.

"Need some help with that?"

Chelsea didn’t wait for her answer before reaching for the hilt of the knife and gently pulling it out of her skin.

"I can help you patch it up if you want"

Sable looked at the girl who still looked full of energy while she was already on her last legs and breathing heavily and shook her head.

"Can you just... turn around?"

Chelsea scoffed and put her hand on Sable’s shoulder

"Look, Sable. We’re currently standing in the center of a pile of bodies. Whatever you’re going to do,i can handle it,i don’t judge "

Sable seemed hesitant,her gaze falling on the player mark. Chelsea noticed her glance and as if realizing something, dropped her hand and took a step back.

"Looks like i got a bit ahead of myself"

Sable sighed, remembering how many times Chelsea had saved her in the last fight and with a mental ’screw it ’ she picked up the freshest body, using her nose and unceremoniously bit into his neck, draining the blood from it.

"Whoa! Metal!"

Chelsea responded to the scene with an excited smile, watching closely as the body shriveled up.

Sable dropped the body as she felt her wounds beginning to heal, the vitality from the blood refreshing her body. It didn’t help with her exhaustion though, she still needed to rest.

"So?"

Awesome. Is that your ability? But wait,i thought you didn’t have an ability.

Sable was confused about why she’d suspect that, but remembered that her watch now displayed that she had no level.

"I... don’t know. This all started tonight"

Chelsea smiled comfortingly

"Well whatever it is, it’s frickin awesome."

Chelsea,a bit absentmindedly reached out and touched the spot the had already fully healed, shocking Sable with her boldness.

"Oh! Hehe, sorry about that "

Sable sighed internally.

’She touched my chest,twice. This is the third time this has happened’ Sable sighed internally, hoping she wouldn’t have to get used to this.

She hadn’t expected Chelsea to so willingly accept her differences, but thinking about it,it made sense that someone like Zaine would know how it felt to be different.

Sable was honestly getting her worldview turned upside down. All her life, she’d been told people with the mark were all murderous psychopaths who wanted to take over the world with any means necessary, meeting, Zen, Zaine, Beatrix and now Chelsea,it was a bit of a culture shock when she realized they all seemed fairly normal. In fact, the only strange thing about them had to be their emotions. For some reason it seemed that they were unable to associate emotions with events properly, just like how Chelsea was getting excited by fights, and Zaine would easily get upset even if he got a complement. So far that was all she could tell was "crazy" about them.

"We should probably go back now, Zaine might need help"

Chelsea waved it off and sat down somewhere.

"They’re fine. They can take care of themselves. You on the other hand look like you need a breather"

Chelsea patted the ground next to her, gesturing for her to take a seat to which she agreed.

"The number seems a bit off" Sable remarked, looking at the bodies

"You noticed? Yeah, this is only a few from each gang. Once they realize that their guys were killed, they’ll each send a bigger force to find out who’s responsible. Then they’ll tear each other to shreds"

Sable looked at the happy expression on Chelsea’s face and honestly couldn’t find it in her heart to feel compassion. Sure , Chelsea’s worldview was warped and demented , but she wasn’t wrong.

Chelsea suddenly seemed to remember something as she suddenly got a bit nervous,her usual tomboy-ish personality settling down.

"Um... Sable. You met her before, right?.So...do you.... know my sister’s name?"

Sable was initially confused but looking at the genuine expression on her face, she realized Chelsea was being honest.

"Umm...why don’t you know your own sister’s name?" Sable asked, trying her best to not sound sarcastic, realizing this was a serious issue.

Chelsea scratche her head, nervously.

"Ummm... well.... I guess there’s nothing wrong with telling you, not like anyone can do anything about it. Players for the first ten years of our lives are known by numbers or letters, when we become ten,we get tested and if you pass the test, you get your name"

The playful light In Chelsea’s eyes dimmed a bit as she continued.

"I left the arcade two years ago, and consequently my sister too. I wasn’t there for the past two years so I missed her test... and apparently she passed...but i don’t know her name"

Sable was left silent. Zen had never told her of such a tradition. So Chelsea,Zen and Zaine weren’t even birth names? Just titles?

"I didn’t know that. Why did you leave?"

Chelsea scoffed, making Sable believe she’d pushed too far but she still answered.

"I had to, I had no choice. After Zen pulled the plug and we split up, i couldn’t..... I still don’t know why he just slammed the door on us like that "

Sable once again was left with more questions than answers, however she knew better than to push too hard. Looks like she’d need to ask him herself.

"Beatrix ".

"Huh?"

"Her name. Beatrix"

Chelsea smiled a bit and started repeating the name to herself.

"Beatrix... Beatrix... Beatrix. Bea."

"She looks just like you. Pink eyes,blonde hair, and that troublemaker smile "

"Hmmm. Did you see her eyes glow? Or her mark"

Sable didn’t know why but she felt more urgency in this question.

"...yes, but only when she was upset "

"She was acting erratically, right?"

Sensing the somber tone, Sable only nodded.

"Huh. At least she’s alive "

Sable’s eyes widened in shock. Why wouldn’t she have been alive?

"What about your parents?"

Chelsea shrugged.

"No clue. Where i come from, relationships aren’t built on affection, only benefit. I thought you’d have learned that from Zen"

Chelsea yawned, stretching in an unladylike manner.

"Come on, let’s go back and see what’s up with those idiots. They should be done by now,there wasn’t anything special about that stupid wannabe mob boss"

Sable stood up and followed behind her , multiple questions swimming inside her.

"You know, you’re quite ruthless for a teenager and a regular one at that."

Sable looked up at the moon.

"It’s...mostly talent"

She answered, unsure of how else to explain how she went from never having taken a life, to taking dozens without batting an eye in one night .

"That’s a damn good talent then"

They both walked for a few minutes until they reached the building again and this time it was eerily silent except for the sounds of the building settling and creaking.

"This place is about to collapse"

Without saying anything they all ran out of the building just in time to watch it crumble to the ground.

"Well you sure know how to make an exit. Guess you haven’t changed after all"

Chelsea suddenly grabbed Zaine’s face, looking deep into his eyes,her gaze full of malice.

"I don’t know whether to say it’s good to see you or gouge your eyes out"

She suddenly placed a gentle kiss on his forehead and turned away.

"I’ve got some stuff to deal with. We’ll catch up later."

She then started leaving, turning back to give Sable a wave, and a little wink.

Sable watched as Chelsea walked away and asked Zaine. 𝓯𝙧𝙚𝒆𝙬𝙚𝒃𝙣𝙤𝒗𝓮𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

"Don’t you want to talk to her?"

He didn’t reply but she could tell he was upset about something.

"So... were done?"

"Yeah,you can leave."

Sable still had questions but she was so tired, she figured she’d just ask in the morning.

"What about you?"

"What about me?"

"Won’t you go to sleep?"

"I don’t sleep"

Sable was honestly too exhausted to be confused. She just yawned and without thinking much, gave Zaine a hug before she started to leave.

"Goodnight. And tell Zen i said goodnight too"

Sable looked back and saw him walking in the opposite direction and only sighed. She’d actually learned a bit more about Zen today. It seemed whatever was going on with Zen and Zaine and their minds had started when they were kids, but something happened three years ago that changed everything.

She couldn’t think straight right now so she just dragged her body all the way to her room and dropped onto the bed, not even bothering to take off her bloody clothes. Luckily she didn’t have a roommate.

She honestly didn’t even know how she got in without being spotted.

Her eyelids started closing as she finally started to get to sleep but she suddenly had a thought.

’Am I a vampire? Vampires drink blood. Vampires also burn in sunlight,at least that’s what the stories say’

Sable’s eyes immediately burst open and she jumped out of bed. She quickly checked the time and realized it was three AM.

"Oh no,oh no. What do I do? Am I gonna burn? Am I even a vampire?"

Sable immediately jumped on the internet, ignoring her sleepy haze as she looked up everything she could about the bloodsucking creatures of the night, especially their weaknesses. During her research, Sable found out that one thing truly did seem consistent, and that was sunlight as a weakness, the effect varied based on the story, but it was enough for her to get worried.

She immediately got to work and thirty minutes later she asked herself.

"Am i overreacting? I’m going crazy, right?"

[Sun block XXL (×20)]

[ Blue Overcoat XXL(×20)]

[Anti UV ray sunglasses (×20)]

[Regular sunglasses (×20)]

[Sun hat (×20]

[Full body covering]

[Anti UV umbrella (sky blue)]

[Crucifix]

[Muzzle]

[Chains]

[Flasks]

"Nope, this is definitely normal"

********************

Somewhere in the city, someone was dragging their injured body through the dark night sky, hurrying to make it somewhere in time before the sun came up.

Dragging his foot with a limp and his hand on his side he eventually made it to a strange building on the deserted outskirts north of the city.

Breathing heavily and with an air of desperation he fell in front of the gate, knocking on the door with as much strength as he could muster, which was only enough for a few barely audible bangs.

A compartment opened and a pair of eyes looked down at him coldly, indifferent to his current state.

"You’re one of the gang leaders . State your business"

Rock struggled to get up,his chest feeling like it was on fire as he said in a desperate tone.

"I need to speak to your boss. Please"

The eyes barely wavered, unaffected by his state or status.

"Leave"

The compartment was about to close when Rock said desperately.

"Wait! Please. This is important,we could all be doomed if we don’t act. "

The person on the other side stopped and looked at him, seemingly scanning for lies .

"Look at me. I’m on my deathbed,i won’t live much longer and i don’t have any weapons on me. Please "

The person on the other side seemed to be considering it before replying.

"Wait"

The compartment slammed shut and the sound of footsteps could be heard. Rock laid there almost dead, hoping his proposal would go through as he clutched his chest painfully.

A few minutes later the door suddenly opened. Looking inside,he couldn’t see anyone so he stepped in, his eyes checking every nook and cranny. He walked in as quickly as he could and saw at the end of the passage was a room.

Going inside he looked around to see at three people looking at him coldly, with one of them in the center.

"Are you the boss?"

He asked the huge man in a neat suit that looked massive even compared to him.

The man looked back, following his gaze, Rock e saw a huge throne made completely of pure gold and red fabric with the image of a three headed demon carved into it with a strange black metal.

"No, the boss isn’t here... but you can talk to me in his stead"