Ball of Nothing

After explaining the concept of soul cultivation several times, Jynx finally understood it when Zero demonstrated how it could work by borrowing a few pieces of paper cut into little human shapes. Truen didn't understand what Zero was doing as he poured a little qi wrapped in mana into the paper puppets and controlled them with basic animation magic.

The paper puppets put up a small skit and danced on the table, amusing and impressing Jynx who decided to give cultivating a try instead of harvesting the souls of the living. Zero was pleased and they shook on this but Jynx brought the initial question back about her client and Zero finally agreed after seeing the efforts Jynx was willing to make for him to reduce slavery.

"Thank you for accepting!" she smiled brightly then sighed.

"Those fraternal twin magicians you were looking for are chimaeras. I'm assuming you don't know what that means?"

Zero blinked. "No, I know what that means. They were artificially created, weren't they?"

Jynx nodded. "That makes things easier for me to explain. There are different kinds of chimaeras. Generally, a chimaera is created when a body is not 100% the original. For example, if I take the arms of a were beast and stick it to the torso of a merman and then attach legs from a human and complete it with a head from a fae, that is going to be a chimaera when a soul takes over the reanimated body."

Zero was briefly reminded about his healing magic fiasco at Endow Hill. Back then, he didn't know better and thought that it was possible to bring to life what had already passed if they had a modified body. The result was heart-breaking after his chimaera massacred an entire village and was eventually disposed of by his shifu.

"I know that kind of chimaera. Are there other types of chimaeras?"

Jynx nodded. "It's not very known yet but it is something all of U.N.U. has been trying to do. Those abandoned body parts you see on the streets are examples of the second type of chimaera. We try to grow parts in the lab and alter the genetic code of cells in their early stages to force a new kind of species to be born. This is the second type of chimaera that is lab birthed. They come with souls but nobody knows if it is a real soul or an artificial soul. We call these lab-grown chimaeras the 'homunculus'. Your fraternal twin magicians are the second type of chimaeras and their inventor is Sylvia the Silver Witch."

That would explain the summons that they received. However, Zero couldn't understand one thing. Why were the twins running and seeking refuge in Half Moon Village? Also, how did Sylvia find them and why call them back after so long?

Jynx didn't appear to know much about the twins but she had one last thing to tell Zero that made the doctor uneasy. "From what I know, Sylvia has been trying something called organic transmutation alchemy lately. It's in the experimental stage and many of her successful chimaeras end up dying."

That sounded... horrifying! "What does that mean? What's organic transmutation alchemy?"

Jynx shrugged. "Who knows that that crazy woman is up to? As far as my sources from her school tell me, she's in need of better parts. They keep failing at the stabilising stage and many bodies have been ruined that way. I've been suffering a lot because of her demands. Hence, I need you to help me resolve this. If that woman doesn't succeed, she would never relinquish her position as the ruler of U.N.U. even though she's just sitting in that position and not actually doing something to this country. The civil war has gone on long enough, it's about time someone stepped up to stop it."

At the mention of the civil war, Zero became interested. "How did the civil war start? What's the current situation? Why doesn't Sylvia do anything?"

With a heavy sigh, Jynx started the story. "It happened about three hundred years ago," she said.

Truen and Zero listened to the banshee explain about her initial friendship with the Great Sylph. They were best of friends until one day, Sylvia found an abandoned child that they raised together away from humans. The child was unfortunately murdered and Sylvia grieved very hard, unable to move on from the death of her beloved child. Jynx started searching for the child's soul and she was able to locate it very quickly as a banshee. To make Sylvia happy again, she studied necromancy to occasionally bring that child back to life.

The price of bringing the dead back to life was a heavy one. Initially, they were very happy about being able to talk and play with their child with the exception of mana fatigue on Jynx's side. However, over time they noticed that slowly their child was starting to forget memories and losing their personality. The effect of forceful summoning of a soul that should have long departed was the loss of identity. Summoned souls will become slaves to the necromancer and mere tools to serve their summoner eternally.

"That's why I stopped summoning our child. For me, I know that it is time to let them go but Sylvia hasn't given up hope. She found a way to artificially contain a soul and is trying to create a body for her child but no matter what kind of body she tried to fit the soul in, there would always be a rejection."

That was to be expected. Zero understood why the body and the soul would reject each other. Every soul was different and each body was created uniquely to accommodate that soul. There was no one-sized solution for housing souls. Unlike Zero who didn't have a soul and could accommodate any vessel or none at all, Truen's vessel was harder to create. Enma had to pull out Truen's records and erase them so that his soul could be reforged into a vessel that Gaia wove. A reforged soul from the Purgatory was like molten metal. It could fit in the 'cast' easily and would stay that way once they 'cooled'. The unforged soul of Sylvia's child would have a hard time fitting into other fixed 'casts' that caused the continuous rejections.

"I think I understand now. Did the civil war happen because of Sylvia's obsession with parts?"

Jynx sighed and nodded. "After learning that undead creatures can become artificially enhanced and strengthened by replacing body parts, U.N.U. was never the same again. In the past, vampires were stronger than zombies and ghosts but now... it depends on who is richer. there are pros and cons to the entire situation but for the most part, I blame Sylvia for not managing them and enforcing laws to contain this situation."

After sitting till his b.u.t.t was numb, Truen finally spoke. "So we just have to find a solution for Sylvia's obsession and satisfy her so that she will step down from her position and name you the new ruler of U.N.U. to contain the civil war and stop slavery practices?"

Jynx nodded. "If you can help Sylvia stop this madness, I will promise you in Grey Legion's name to end this misery. This cycle of sorrow shouldn't be passed down to the next generation. Everyone deserves happiness."

Zero was touched after listening to the story. "I'll do my best," he told the lolita banshee. "Please help me arrange a meeting with Sylvia, I'll see what I can do."