Chapter Four: A stolen soul fragment

Aubrey sighed out slowly as he turned to the stairs, knowing too well that the entire crowd of gods and goddess were staring at him.

Others with eyes of admiration, while others with pity and annoyance that he was still too stubborn enough to go through it despite the warnings of high gods and goddesses.

Others were simply annoyed that he had the audacity to call the gods less intelligent than he was, that he was somehow more intellect than they were.

Most of which were the deities feeling annoyed by his remark against the gods, not to mention, they disliked the fact that he received so much praise from different gods and goddesses to the point they wished they had found him sooner.

The oracle watched as Aubrey reached the platform and glanced up at her, unsure of what he should do next.

"Place your hand over the sphere, Aubrey, as it contains your soulmate's physical form." The oracle states and Aubrey instantly walked over to the sphere, reaching out his hand nervously.

His fingers pressed against the surprisingly warm smooth surface, spreading them out as he pressed his palm against it.

A sudden warmness filled his entire body as he felt the sphere.

A calming warmth.

"The energy you feel now is your soulmate's energy to you. That is how your soulmate feels about you. Others may feel slight warmth and others may feel coldness. Despite it being rare, others feel nothing." The oracle explained as she closed her eyes and felt the energy the sphere was releasing. "Each energy temperature describes your soulmate's response to your touch. A cold feeling means confusion and surprise. Often, the soulmate does not know who they are going to be with, let alone they are scared or just confused of the waiting one. Having no feel simply means it is a new soul being born, meaning you had no soulmate in the past and one was created to accompany you. A warmth feeling, such as this one, indicates the time you have spent together."

"What do you mean by that?" Aubrey asked as he glanced up at the oracle that still had it's eyes closed shut.

"You two are old flames that were never put out, Aubrey." The Oracle whispered out as it pressed its forehead against the sphere, enjoying the calming warmth. "Very very old soulmates that have travelled across countless time frames, meeting in others and failing to find each other in others. Your connection, however, is still so strong that you keep bringing back your souls for a chance to meet once again since the days you were first born as souls. Such a beautiful thing to witness. Making this child has filled me with unimaginable joy."

Aubrey glanced down to his palm as he wondered who was on the inside at the moment. A being that clearly captured the Oracle's heart.

"She's a very beautiful soul, Aubrey." The oracle added, stroking the sphere. "While calling her soul, she was still in the mortal realm, living the life as a housewife to a very rich and spoiled man. She was very silent and always smiling as he would come home to her. However, she's been beaten and hurt throughout this marriage. In order for me to take her from this earth, she had to die. But unfortunately for her she was carrying a child and I had to kill them both in a car accident as her husband was driving drunk from a friend's house."

"What... What about her child?" Aubrey asked in horror as he stared back down at the orb. He did not know he had to kill his own soulmate to summon her into the immortal realm.

"The child's soul was redirected to a more deserving home where he'll be loved until he dies." It explained, sighing out admirably. "It took a lot of torture and time for her to finally close her eyes and pass off as she wanted to live to see her child. But she had to come here, the mortal realm was not where she needed to be. You're very old souls that have been longing to meet for too long. I needed to unite you two."

"If I remained mortal, would I have met her?" Aubrey asked and the oracle opened its eyes and glanced down at him.

"No." It said smoothly as it leaned from the sphere. "You both were dying separate times and reincarnating at different times as well. She was old when you were born and she was born when you were old. You two were destined to live natural lives without risk of accidents and diseases. This stopped you from meeting each other as you had to wait your years out. You would be dead before she was born as the woman I had to pass on. That is why you are here now, the higher one wants to grant your souls' wish and bring you two together." It explained before stepping back from the sphere.

"Despite feeling the connection you two share, Aubrey, I need to ask of you." It said, turning to face him fully now. "Was a part of your soul taken away from you?"

"What do you mean by that?" Aubrey asked as a sudden unease settled in his chest, suddenly feeling somewhat... Watched. Observed.

"I feel two links straight to your soulmate, both belonging to you and yet the other leads elsewhere whilst one is here." It said, reaching out it's finger to his forehead. "These are my eyes, Aubrey." It said as it pressed his finger against his forehead and in an instant, countless streams of different colours filled his vision all around him. He glanced down at his arms and noticed his body was glowing green.

"The green colour around you is your energy. Now, look that the sphere, Aubrey." It said as it pointed to the sphere.

His eyes shifted from it to the sphere only to gasp at the purely white glow around it.

"This is the colour of your soulmate's energy, nearly similar to mine. As you can see, there is a thread between the two of you." The Oracle pointed out as Aubrey glanced down at his hand, only to notice his pinky finger tightly curled with an almost invisible string that led into the sphere, vanishing at the surface. "This is the fated string. The string that binds your souls together. However, look at this one." It points up to a string leading away from them and towards the sky. "This is also a fated string. However, this one belongs to another being. There are only two souls fated together, never three. The only conclusion is that a part of your soul was taken from you to duplicate another entire soul all together."

"Another... Soul was made from mine?" Aubrey asked as he stared up at Oracle. "Then that means..."

"Indeed, Aubrey." The Oracle nodded its head. "If a fraction of your soul did not come back as it should have, there is another being sharing your soul."