The beginning

"I can't explain what you are," Kallias replied, knowing the knowledge he had didn't reach far enough back into history to understand what Seth was. "We'll have to take him to see Asterianna," he said to Five.

Five threw his arms out. "No way. Absolutely not. Just Seth's presence in the same place as her 'master' could be enough to wake him."

"Athen is already awake, it won't be much longer till the others begin to wake."

"That's more of a reason not to take him there. What if her master wakes and decides to kill Seth? I'm not risking it." Five crossed his arms and stood defiant.

"As his caretaker, you have a duty to see to the fulfillment of his destiny."

"And do you really think Soren's going to let you walk Cala away into the place anymore than I would?" Five shook his head and mumbled loudly. "It's not the right time."

Kallias walked to the side of Athen's bed and looked down at him. "Sadly, I don't see any bonds between Cala and Soren. I don't believe he sees her as anything more than an apprentice. I did not sense any desire in him to protect or serve. It was a mutual teacher feeling. He's a very logical thinking man. Convincing him to surrender Cala to her fate would be very simple. I cannot believe the luck we had today. To have both pieces of one split soul in the same place at the same time. Athen had done something terrible to that woman's life."

Five leaned against the wall, looking at Seth and then the floor. "It's likely Soren's going to try to exorcise her, isn't it?"

Kallias' face showed his concern. "It's hard to say. Cala's slowly going to become more and more possessed by her other half. The maniacal side of Seth is going to start to turn mellow. In essence, they'll begin to switch roles until Athen's permitted to either finish or remove his spell. We know that an exorcism would rip Cala's soul to shreds. The only person strong enough to remove this spell is on the other team. If Soren isn't aware of Cala's condition, he may try to remove the Miser infection."

Cala kept her eye covered and moved to the back of the group, behind Soren. She took out her blade and held it to the sun till she saw her reflection. Gasping, she shoved it back in her bag and shook a little. Her eye had turned red. She wondered what it meant. Was she possessed? Was it something Athen had done.
She turned her back to Soren's and closed her unchanged eye. The red eye was blurry, but different. She could see further and seemed to sense movement and even temperatures. Terrified, she covered the eye again, looking quickly to see if anyone had noticed her. She exhaled quietly when no one had.

Soren noticed the man standing next to what was clear to him a miser at his feet. She's so young... He frowned as they walked towards the man. He absentmindedly put a reassuring hand on Cala's shoulder.

Anna sniffed the air again. "Hey!" she proclaimed, "The sulfur smell is behind them!" She crawled on the ground a few feet and sniffed at Ezekiel's jacket then moved to Soren's.
She stopped at Cala, tipping her head. "This one smells different," she said. She stood and pulled and Cala's arm, trying to get her to bend down.

Cala looked at Soren, questioning, and knelt slowly. "What do you mean?" she asked hesitantly.

Anna pulled Cala's hand away from her eye. Her eyes grew wide and she gasped loudly. "You have a dual soul!" She clapped her hands wildly. "I've never seen one! I thought it was a myth! Oh wow, I'm so excited! Have you met your other half? Do you have two half souls or one split soul? Is it hard to think? Does it each part have its own mind?" Anna ran around Cala quickly and stopped in front of her. "Can you read minds? What am I thinking? Do your eyes change often?" Anna kept asking more questions as she sniffed at Cala's hair.

Soren looked up at Cala curiously. Dual soul?... "Cala, may I please have a look at your eyes?" He asked softly.

Cala covered her eye and jumped to her feet. "It's just irritate, sir. Probably dust." She backed away slowly, clutching at her face.

Soren smiled gently, holding his hands up. "I only want to look, Cala. I promise you that I will not hurt you."

Cala hesitantly uncovered her eye. "I swear, this has never happened before," she said shakily.

"I believe you, Cala. It's okay," he replied in a soothing voice as he took her chin in his hand and examined her eyes. It's turned red... "Interesting..." he mused quietly, turning her head gently back and forth, examining from all sides. "Very interesting..."

"Am I... possessed, sir..." Cala asked, nervously pulling at the buttons on her vest.

Soren frowned as he thought back to the confrontation with Athen and Seth. "Not possessed, no..." He shook his head. as he continued thinking. "If it were possession, I believe it would be immediate. Also, I believe both of your eyes would have changed. No, this is something different." He tapped his chin as he continued to look at Cala. "You are not a threat, so you will not be exorcised. I believe we will have to wait for any other changes. Do you feel any differences with this new eye of yours?" He asked.

"I can see further, but it's blurry. There's more awareness in this eye. Even to temperature." Cala touched her eye, looking down at the girl. "What is a dual soul?" she asked.

Anna tugged on Soren's pants. "Are you her keeper? Do you know what a dual soul is?" She cleared her throat. "If souls were colors, you'd have a red and blue soul. Most people would have one color. Like red or blue, or if they were a little of both, purple. But your soul is split in two. The legends I've heard say that means your other half is taken by someone else. You both were born at the same moment and died at the same moment in a different life. Now you're souls are mixed because the gods couldn't tell which was which, so they gave you half of each."

Soren smiled down at the girl. "No, dear. I'm her teacher. She is my apprentice." He looked up at Cala as he spoke. "And she will remain my apprentice until she masters her abilities or is no longer able to concentrate on her training." He nodded after the girl spoke. "It is my belief that someone else has taken in your soul's other half, and has given you half of theirs." He again thought back to Athen and Seth. "If it was a relatively docile soul, you will not become 'possessed,' as it is. However..." He sighed. "I am unsure of what will happen if the other soul is hostile."

Cala looked at Soren, lowering her head. "Thank you, sir." She thought about Seth and concluded he must be the new presence she felt. "This must be why the boy with Mister Five felt familiar to me."