Haunted King

FORTY-THREE | my soul

Melody's knew this story by heart. "A commoner girl who is pursued by a crown prince. A classic story." Cordelia scoffed, "and he was a classic asshole. He never took no for an answer and saw my status as an invitation to force me to be his girlfriend! Maliki may have a temper but at least I knew he would always put me first!"

Melody smiled at the faint image of Gabriel that appeared in her mind. "These men that are pursuing you are also game characters whose worlds we're made into reality." Melody was having a hard time processing all of this. "I still don't understand what is happening. If you are my mom then what about my parents on Earth. Who are they."

Cordelia grumbled, "this is going to be a long story." She waved her hand and suddenly Melody's body went limp. "You are in my world. The spiritual realm," Cordelia explained. All Melody saw was a thick grey fog surrounding her. She could barely see her hands in front of her face and was afraid to walk around. The fog smelled like freshly poured cereal and the ocean. A weird combination but a relaxing one.

"This is you," Cordelia's soft voice resonated through the space around Melody. The fog reflected an image of a child sitting in a cradle. "And this is your father and I." The image zoomed out to reveal the couple happily standing over the wooden cradle. Suddenly, Cordelia's eyes went blank and she stepped back from Maliki. Her face filled with confusion then rage.

"We were forced to hate each other. Even though our hearts rivaled our words the authors would not let us play the story we wanted to create." Despite the child in the room the two people began cursing and throwing spells at each other. Melody watched it all with a heavy heart. She didn't miss the single tear that slid down Maliki's face as he was forced to harm the woman he loved.

"We were tired of it so we ran. We used all forms of forbidden magic to escape that hell of a world. But forbidden magic is forbidden for a reason. Our souls were cursed to stay in the spirit realm. We didn't know when the constellations would find us, or the suffering we would endure when they did. We couldn't save ourselves, but we could still save you."

The fog slowly cleared and what seemed like glass was hidden beneath Melody's feet. She could see Earth shimmering in the sunlight. "So we did."

A small light floated down beneath her feet and towards her home planet. "That's me?" Melody asked. "That is you," Cordelia confirmed. "We sent you to Earth because your chances of your soul tethering there were the highest."

Melody waved her hands in confusion, "woah, hold on. Now you're confusing me." Cordelia huffed and and flicked her hand again. Melody snapped back up. She had returned to the library.

"Traveling souls don't tether to a world unless they experience a full pure love. Usually it is found in their reincarnated parents or a lover. But you sadly never found that on Earth." Melody nodded in understanding. "The problem arose when you started falling in love with game characters. Some of them who had already gained their humanity and freedom. Your souls was basically ripping apart because it was being tethered to worlds all over the place."

Melody's mouth fell open. All she was doing was playing some otome games but in reality she was ripping her soul apart? "The Constellations found you eventually and attempted to create the ultimate character for you to fall for so they could transfer your soul to a world they could control.

"And it almost worked with Calum until he gained his humanity. And he fell for you just like the others. So they shut down his game and created the new and improved version. Gabriel. Your perfect match in every way. You spent years with him and your soul was nearly completely tethered until you did the impossible and completely won him over. He gained his humanity just like Calum did."

"Did you create Fallen Angel 2?" Cordelia shook her head vigorously. "Oh no! I would never! That was the Constellations. They grabbed every man they could and shoved them in Fallen Angel in hopes of finally tethering you at all costs. But these men had their minds manipulated. Their love for you was heightened to dangerous levels and if you had tethered to someone whose affection was higher than a hundred you also would have lost your humanity."

Cordelia bit her lip, "you would have turned to a game character." Melody's eyes widened. "Christopher is a unique case. He basically did what your father and I did. He used forbidden magic and tethered his soul to yours but it had a cost. He was stuck in the spiritual realm for twenty years. Then when he was free he possessed the one man on Earth you had the highest chance of falling in love with."

Melody's gasped, "Christain? I was meant to fall for Christain!" Cordelia nodded, "it would seem so. But when Christopher slowly began possessing him those chances dropped drastically. Now, because he has tethered his soul to you the only way you can get rid of him is if you kill him."

Melody was putting the pieces together. "You put those warnings in the app." Cordelia nodded. "As you fight your must remember that your soul is being split between earth and Fallen Angel. Not just you but Crystal as well. If you want to protect your family and yourself then it is best you tether your self soon and send Crystal back home." Melody looked over to the frozen Crystal, "I understand." Cordelia smiled, "I'm glad we were able to talk like this. But it is best not to prolong things anymore."

Cordelia smiled to Melody, snapped her fingers, then disappeared. Crystal shook her head out of the daze. Melody turned to her cousin slowly, "god do I have so much to tell you."